Climate Action

Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Climate change is one of the most important global challenges both now and for future generations. We support the ambitions of the Paris Agreement and are reducing the intensity of GHG emissions from our operations and delivering solutions that help advance a low-carbon economy. We are working to meet customer demand for products with a lower carbon footprint. By 2030 we aim to achieve a 15% reduction in CO₂ emissions per ton of product produced compared with 2015 levels.

Our CO₂ reduction program includes:

• Increasing our use of renewable energy, and recovering and reusing waste heat to produce electricity
• Introducing lower carbon feedstocks made from renewable resources and plastic waste
• Improving operational energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption.
• Assessing low-carbon opportunities and transportation solutions across our supply chain
• Offering products that reduce emissions such as materials that make vehicles lighter and more fuel efficient, biofuels that meet clean air standards, and building materials that improve energy efficiency
• Exploring break-through technologies that advance low-carbon production processes

LyondellBasell, along with our joint venture partner Covestro, is investing in the Circular Steam project at our shared site in Maasvlakte, the Netherlands. The Maasvlakte plant produces propylene oxide and styrene monomer, and wastewater is currently incinerated at a third-party location. Rather than incinerating it, the Circular Steam Project will use innovative technology to treat this water into two streams and convert it into energy. The first stream will be biologically treated, generating biogas and allowing us to discharge the clean water in the Rotterdam estuary. The biogas generated will be reused in our site operations, thus avoiding the use of additional fuels being burned. The second waste stream, containing waste fuels and caustic waters, will enter a dry incineration process that will separate the salts and generate steam for use in the on-site production processes. The project is expected to reduce 140,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually, save 0.9 petajoule of energy each year and reduce wastewater disposal.

In addition, LyondellBasell produces polypropylene (PP) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) made from renewable raw materials as an alternative to fossil-derived resources. These polymers have lower greenhouse gas emissions over their life cycle compared with their petroleum-based equivalents. In 2019, we collaborated with Neste to achieve the first commercial scale, parallel production of PP and LDPE derived from renewable resources. The project used Neste’s renewable hydrocarbons produced from vegetable oil and waste oils as feedstock and successfully produced several thousand tons of plastics.

13.7 billion tons of CO2 is emitted through the food supply chain per year and about 1/3 of all food produced in the world goes to waste, generating 8% of human-caused GHG emissions annually. Plastic packaging plays a critical role in preventing food waste by keeping food safe and fresh for longer. It is also light weight, reducing the energy needed for transportation and thereby decreasing CO2 emissions. LyondellBasell continuously collaborates with our food packaging customers to develop innovative solutions that reduce food waste and improve distribution.