Recently, Motul Asia Pacific hosted its sixth “Motul Minute” media gathering with featured guest Keith Schulz, Chief Sustainability Officer and Chief Industrial Officer at Motul Asia Pacific to discuss about the company’s sustainability efforts.
Keith has a vast of over 25 years of experience in the field of sustainability and spoke with the media on the importance of sustainability in modern practices and the steps Motul is taking to ensure sustainability goals are met. He also spoke about the challenges faced with the region’s socioeconomic diversity, and how the strategic priorities are adopted in varying markets.
Motul Asia Pacific operates in 16 markets across the region from Japan to New Zealand and as an industry leader in lubricants, sustainability is a key focus for the company operations and the brand. Its vision towards sustainability starts at the very top with industry level leadership in sustainability for lubricants with Keith Schulz leading the industrial fluids, services, and production in a new, sustainable direction across the region.
Action First
Keith highlights that an action-oriented approach in order to be key focus on sustainability. Since the regulations in most emerging markets in Asia are not as strict as European markets, Motul begins its approach with a holistic operational-level assessment of its environmental, social and governance impact.
Beginning right at the top of the manufacturing process, Motul has taken several steps to activate a set of resources at senior level surrounding community impact for workers in factories. Some direct practices include the construction of the largest industrial scale battery to harness solar power through photovoltaic cells on factory roof spaces. This is being done as part of a 20-year power purchase agreement with Asia Clean Capital in Vietnam, as Motul aims to run 80-85% of its operations on green power. In addition, the team is also working towards reducing the emissions of greenhouse gasses in the manufacturing process by eliminating the use of high carbon fuels like diesel in the mixing process.
Within its office operations, Motul undertakes recycling programs to reduce landfill waste and is working on ways to make packaging more sustainable. The steps and processes to ensure sustainability goals are being fulfilled are constantly evolving to meet the varied needs and directions across the diverse Asia Pacific region. This approach involves looking at upstream and downstream impact of operations throughout the supply chain and encouraging participation in the corporate strategy to drive value through the macro operations.
Beyond its own operations, Motul aims to go the extra mile to ensure integration and strategic vision alignment of its ecosystem of suppliers and business partners who work with/for the company. As a lubricant manufacturer, Motul’s primary product is largely carbon-based, making sustainable practices all the more critical.
Addressing Social Impact & the Future
In many emerging markets like Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and more, Motul creates social value in the community through its Motul Corazon initiative. As part of Motul’s Corporate Social Responsibility efforts, Motul Corazon is a foundation that brings opportunities to young teenagers worldwide, enabling them to surpass constraints. Working with non-profit organizations, Motul helps adolescents overcome difficulties, through vocational and personal training, particularly in the fields of mechanics and technology.
For Motul, sustainability is core to the company’s future. Moving forward, Keith and his counterparts will create a set of actions that guide the company’s senior management, in ensuring Motul’s industry leadership in sustainability. The brand continues to believe in a top-down approach which extends all the way to the smallest aspects of the production process. As a company that has been in the lubricant and oil sector for over 150 years, Motul is placing itself at the forefront of the evolution of motoring, harnessing a century’s worth of learning from laboratories and partnerships to head towards a more sustainable business and future.