Testimonials

SOTULUB has everything it needs to win the competitiveness battle.

"In my capacity as CEO of SOTULUB, my highest priority consisted in maintaining an increasing rate of used oil collection. I was keen, at the same time, on making sure to protect and use the new work method adopted for the regeneration of used lubricating oils carefully, especially after it was granted an international patent. Relying entirely on Tunisian competencies, SOTULUB launched its activities in the 1990s and was mainly distinguished by its reduced investment costs and operating expenses. Since then, it has been a major asset in the partnership and cooperation policy in Tunisia and abroad", Says Mr. Mohamed Ben Abdallah.

He recalls that SOTULUB was chosen, at the time, among the first 100 Tunisian companies to have joined the national upgrading program. Finally, he emphasizes that SOTULUB has the required tools; human and material resources; and valuable assets, including an irrefutable exhaustive expertise, that make it capable of taking up the competition challenge and winning the competitiveness battle.

Quality is the key to sustainability.

"When I took over as the CEO of SOTULUB in 2002, one ton of lubricating base oil produced by means of regeneration was priced at TND 800, against TND 2,100 today. Oil companies, estimated at not more than four or five, were the main clients. No need to tell you that they incurred huge sunk costs. I had then to take painstaking steps with the supervisory authority, namely the Ministries of Industry and the Environment, in order to push for an upward adjustment of the selling price. SOTULUB held a legal quasi monopoly on the sector. The small scope of the market greatly impeded the company's action and constituted a risk and vulnerability factor; a situation that has dragged on ever since. Obviously, being a publicly financed SME, SOTULUB is small in size. However, its grandeur stems from the significance of its environmental, economic and social missions, which it has been fulfilling brilliantly", says Mr. Ali Labiadh.

SOTULUB should retain its leadership position.

In this regard, Mr.Ahmed Souibgui says, "I joined SOTULUB as CEO in April 2005 and left in August 2008. In my capacity as Chief of Staff of the Minister of Industry, I was in charge of contacting companies supervised by the Ministry, including SOTULUB, which was not very well known at the time, despite the special place it already occupied in the country's economy. It is a multidimensional company that brings together 3 main sectors: industry, through the manufacture of used lubricating oils; the environment, through an entire public system for the regeneration of used lubricating oils, known as Eco Zit; and society, through active participation in social promotion works (maintaining schools, supporting sports associations and sports and physical education clubs, encouraging reading activities, etc.). The company dedicates a significant part of its budgets to these social initiatives.

On the environmental side, we can say that SOTULUB constitutes, in itself, an autonomous sector. It played a pioneering role in the protection of the environment at a time when the Ministry of the Environment did not even exist, and long before the establishment of the Eco-Zit sector, along with all the affiliated entities (ANGED, ANPE, etc.). At the time (1979-1980), the Ministry of the National Economy managed the sectors of industry, oil and tourism. SOTULUB plays a leading role in preserving the environment, which is not given much attention by Tunisians, and in boosting national economy. Huge efforts have been made to provide this publicly funded company with substantial human and financial resources. It is present in all the major regions of the country through its collection and storage centers of used lubricating oils.

It continues to engage in vigorous environmental action aimed at consolidating these collection centers managed by approved subcontractors and reducing costs by optimizing collection routes.

Thanks to its forty years of experience, its engineers, its senior technicians and all its management staff, SOTULUB is now able to ensure a bright future for itself. The working atmosphere at the company is perfectly suited to this purpose. The company staff, all categories and generations combined, is now mindful of the vital importance of remaining faithful to its main vocation as the main advocate for environmental protection, building upon the already acquired expertise and moving forward, by making the necessary improvements, particularly in terms of collection and manufacturing processes and methods. SOTULUB is one of the few Tunisian companies, like the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT) and others, that have an invention patent (1986-1987). The number of companies operating in the used oil regeneration sector under an invention patent, around the world, was very limited, at least until 2005-2006.

All companies operating in the oil sector in Tunisia, such as supply companies, etc., source oil from SOTULUB, for the quality of its regenerated oils perfectly meets the international norms and standards for lubricating oils.

I am convinced that SOTULUB is a valuable asset to be safeguarded and that has the necessary means to maintain its status as the leader of the used oil regeneration sector".

A pioneering and visionary performance.

Mr. Adnane Belhaj Amor believes that "SOTULUB is the fruit of a vision and an anticipation of what seemed to be unpredictable to the majority of people at that time. In 1979, when SOTULUB was created, environmental protection was not part of the agenda in our policies and grabbed very little interest in Tunisia, as indeed in most developed countries; practices and speeches did not reflect serious concern for environmental conservation".

He continues, "I cannot stress enough the fact that SOTULUB represents a pioneering and visionary achievement and an artwork made by innovative promoters who, for the first time, apprehended things from the technical, ecological and economic perspectives all at once. It then took off under the public Eco-Zit system, which identifies a number of conditions and procedures for the recovery of used lubricating oils and oil filters and their management. Petroleum product supply companies such as SNDP, which is a public company, and other foreign brands, such as Shell, Esso, OiLibya, etc. are required to source oils from SOTULUB for the manufacture of their lubricating oils, which is actually fabulous."

Easily transferable expertise.

Despite all the challenges, SOTULUB continues to evolve. Its financial situation is stable and its sustainability is beyond any doubt. It may, however, face certain strategic difficulties in terms of competition. We can even speak of one specific issue that is essentially linked to the Tunisian context. In fact, post-revolution Tunisia has chosen to adopt a policy of liberalization and market economy.

Hence, in order to preserve its share of the market, SOTULUB must adopt a strategic vision, with regard to collection activities in particular, that is flexible to the changing nature of the labor market and that relies on innovation.

Succession is smoothly taking place within the company. SOTULUB's expertise is being easily transmitted without any significant issues", says Mr. Rachid Zouaghi.

Huge potential for the development and extension of SOTULUB.

Mr. Hedi Chebili, currently Director General of the Environment and Quality of Life Unit at the Ministry of Local Affairs and the Environment, was a project manager at the Ministry of the Environment in 1996. In this capacity at the time, he had assisted a number of innovative projects developed by the "Société Tunisienne des Lubrifiants". In this context, he describes SOTULUB's achievements and future as follows:

"My experience with SOTULUB dates back to 1996, when a pilot project for the collection of oily waste was launched and piloted by the Ministry of the Environment, with finance from Luxembourg. The project entailed four components:

1) the improvement of waste collection conditions in garages;

2) the opening and equipping of a warehouse for used oils in La Charguia;

3) the implementation of a filter management system for used oils;

4) sensitization and the promotion of urban aesthetics.

No less than 200 garages were picked in Greater Tunis, fitted out and transformed into collection points for waste oil and oil filters meeting all the conditions of hygiene, healthiness and environmental preservation.

The project also included the urban development of an area located between Akouda and Hammam-Sousse (governorate of Sousse), where rotary intersections at the major road periphery not known by Tunisian drivers were upgraded. The first rotary intersection was installed in 1998 in Sousse across from the youth center.

At the time, SOTULUB engaged in the modernization of its depots for the temporary storage of collected used oils, by opening a model warehouse for used lubricants at La Charguia, near the airport of Tunis-Carthage. It was then fitted out with ultramodern equipment, with a view to helping collection companies in the four governorates of Greater Tunis. The old depot located in Sidi Thabet fell far short of the required standards. The project required investments of around $5 million.

Besides used lubricating oils, used oil filters were collected to extract entirely reusable materials with zero waste. Very polluting oils that used to be released in relatively large quantities in landfills, in nature, before being recovered in any manner of means to be used as fuel by brick makers, tenants of hammams (Arab baths),etc. are now collected, recycled and recovered by a national structure. This not only contributes to depolluting our country, our lands, our shores, our ecosystems and environment, but also to providing high-quality lubricants.

Thanks to the high skills it has, SOTULUB plays a part in revitalizing mechanisms dedicated to the integration of the environmental dimension into depollution activities, strengthening environmental action decentralization means and improving the quality of life through sanitation and the management of hazardous waste. In doing so, SOTULUB sets itself up as a company that protects the environment and assumes social responsibility, by relying on credible and transparent indicators. It also responds to the demands of civil society in terms of a better consideration of the impacts of its activities and the integration of the environmental, social and economic dimensions.

SOTULUB has acquired an international reputation after being awarded an invention patent for its manufacturing method of basic lubricating oils. You might wonder: What about opening up the used lubricating oil treatment sector to competition? What can SOTULUB do to maintain its position as a national leader in the sector?

Over the past few years, we have noticed the emergence of new stakeholders seeking to establish themselves in the used oil regeneration sector. We, as the ministry in charge of the environment, are not allowed to prevent them from launching and developing their activities and are compelled to support all project proponents who wish to operate in the sector. The "may the best win" principle remains perfectly valid in this case, as everybody is allowed to play the game.

There is, however, a big difference between a small unit with little expertise and financial means, and a National Company endowed with great importance, scope and experience, as is the case of SOTULUB, which has existed for many years. Our obligation is to prevent illegal competition, give everyone equal chances and ensure that everything is done properly. We are also in charge of supervising, without any distinction, all the activities of companies intervening in the sector. Controllers from the ANGED intervene at this level in all governorates. It is true that SOTULUB has been confronted for several years with some problems, but they will ultimately be solved.

The company has significant human and material resources that allow it to keep fully playing its role both nationally and internationally, and improve its performance at all levels.

With regard to cooperation in the waste oil regeneration sector with partners from different countries, we are looking forward to growing our partnerships with neighboring countries. We already started talks thereon with Algeria in 2016. However, the issue that arose then was that of knowing to what extent it would be possible for SOTULUB to develop cooperative relations with Algerian partners and to promote mutual service delivery. It was concluded that SOTULUB should either participate directly in the execution of projects in Algeria, or undertake subcontracting activities, or recover used oils on site to process them in Tunisia. Both parties share at this level a genuine desire for collaboration, but this remains to be realized while taking into account the enormous potentialities at their disposal.

Talks on this issue must go on, especially that such cooperation can perfectly open up to other neighboring countries. In this regard, SOTULUB can effectively play role of the catalyst, by offering multiple services, as it can engage in other cooperation activities in the same field.

In light of its enormous development and production potential, SOTULUB is also interested in developing and intensifying its activities and services throughout the country. It is up to its executives, its management and all its staff to walk the walk.

We take much pride today in telling the success story of this company that made a lot of achievements and successes”.

SOTULUB has succeeded in significantly improving used oil collection indicators.

Being SOTULUB's partner, the National Waste Management Agency (ANGED) intervenes in monitoring the management of used oils. It is thereby the one entitled to objectively judge this company's performance in terms of environmental protection and the compliance of its system with waste management standards. In this context, Mr. Badreddine Lasmar, CEO of ANGED, thinks that,

"ANGED" can but welcome the long-standing partnerships it has established with SOTULUB and pledges to continuously reinforce them.

This spirit of cooperation helped ANGED and SOTULUB jointly contribute to the efficient and planned implementation of the "Eco-Zit" used lubricating oil recovery and regeneration system. It also enabled SOTULUB, as a pioneering and pivotal company in the used lubricating oil treatment sector, to significantly improve indicators used in the collection of oils, the quantity of which reached roughly 15,000 tons in 2018. On the other hand, the quantity of regenerated oils, all qualities combined, sold on the market during the same year amounted to almost 9,500 tons.

These results have made it possible not only to ensure a high degree of environmental protection and avoid the release of very dangerous pollutants into nature, but also to meet a substantial proportion (30%) of the market needs in high-quality basic lubricating oils, thus reducing the imports of these products by the same percentage. These achievements are also the fruit of several specific agreements and conventions concluded since the implementation of the Eco-Zit system in 2002.

ANGED and SOTULUB are determined to redouble their efforts and work hand in hand for the development and consolidation of this system with its two inseparable components, namely the economy and the environment.

SOTULUB is present in all our fuel dispenser kiosks.

"The Société Nationale de distribution du Pétrole (SNDP)-AGIL is a special partner of SOTULUB. Speaking about the nature of this partnership and the quality of SOTULUB products, Mr. Nabil Smida, CEO of AGIL, says,

SOTULUB is present in all our fuel distribution stations across Tunisia, not only through its storage tanks and its lubricating oils, but also through its dedicated and fruitful efforts carried out jointly for the collection of used oils.

We must therefore salute all the company staff for the quality of the oils regenerated at Zarzouna plant. This is the fruit of their incontrovertible expertise and the Integrated Management System, duly audited by an international certification body, in accordance with universally recognized requirements and standards.

SOTULUB's constant commitment to promoting its activities and product quality is likely to enhance its brand image and foster its sustainability".

On his part, Mr. Hazem Yahiaoui, the General Manager of hydrocarbons unit at SNDP-AGIL said in his testimonial,

"I can never insist enough on the pivotal role played by SOTULUB in two key sectors, namely the economy and the environment. We need to pay tribute to the way it fully undertakes its responsibilities. In fact, it accounts for 30% of oils and 90% of lubricating greases meant for consumption.

It is precisely this twofold requirement of fighting pollution and adaptability to market conditions in terms of quality and costs that led SOTULUB to use and implement an innovative technology for used oil regeneration during the 90's based on its own skills. SOTULUB earned its international awarded patent, which constitutes a major asset in the partnership and cooperation policy in Tunisia and abroad".

Perfect trading relationships

First of all, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the General Management and all the staff of SOTULUB on the occasion of its 40th anniversary.

We maintain cooperative relations with this Tunisian pioneering company known for its environment-friendly approaches and proven expertise in the fields of used oil regeneration and lubricating grease manufacture.

I have to admit that we highly appreciate SOTULUB's prompt intervention in the recovery of used lubricating oils that we collect through our 1700 gas stations throughout Tunisia.

SOTULUB makes high-quality base oils out of used oils according to international standards and allows us to produce oils under our own brand. We also appreciate the quality of SOTULUB lubricating greases and tend to purchase them in bulk to package them ourselves in our factories.

Our trading relations with SOTULUB are perfect, especially that we fully share the same innovative spirit and environmental commitments. We believe that SOTULUB will grow even stronger in the future".