Sustainable base chemicals: driving an everyday revolution from the ground up

Sustainable change is the defining narrative of our time. As the effects of climate change are felt around the world, we are all feeling the need to make more sustainable choices in our everyday lives.

Building a more sustainable future

One way to do this is to choose products made from sustainable base chemicals. Base chemicals are the fundamental compounds that serve as the building blocks for a wide variety of everyday items. Today, the majority of them are derived from fossil fuels, but that doesn’t have to be the case.

Sustainable base chemicals are born from the ground up: from the earth, in the form of plant-derived biomass; from land, through transforming existing waste using chemical recycling; and from the air, using carbon capture technology, which we are currently working towards.

An everyday revolution

These innovative compounds are poised to revolutionize the way we live, consume, and interact with our environment, supporting us to move away from fossil fuels and reduce our carbon emissions.

What do you know about where your sportswear comes from? You probably know the brand name and the shop you bought it from, but what about the material itself and what goes into making it? You might be surprised to learn that we can make nylon from biomass, found in the ground.

Consider your morning on the go coffee from a cup labelled “made from recycled material”. Do you ever wonder what recycled materials were used and how they were recycled? Mixed consumer plastic waste streams can be processed using chemical recycling to create high-quality, food-safe plastics.

Now think about your drive to work and the car tires carrying you from A to B. What do you think they’re made from? Probably, a mix of synthetic rubber and polymer compounds, which have traditionally been made from fossil fuels. However, today’s technology makes it possible to capture carbon from the air and process into raw material for high-performance tires.

Sustainable solutions now, not later

These are not isolated examples; they are proof that sustainable solutions are achievable now, not in some distant future.

At OMV, our purpose is to reinvent essentials for sustainable living, and we’re committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest. As an integrated sustainable chemicals, fuels and energy company we’re in a unique position to reimagine the materials that go into the products we use every day, from source to supply.

We’re working hard to accelerate progress, creating flexible sustainable chemical solutions that deliver significant reductions in scope 1, 2, and even 3 carbon emissions. By 2030, we expect our combined sales of sustainable base chemicals and recycled and bio-based polyolefins to reach 1.4 million tons per year.

This is all backed by our integrated model, which joins up multiple parts of the value chain to guarantee reliability of supply to our customers and their customers.

Tracking sustainable content through the value chain

Underpinning our approach is mass balance, a chain of custody model that tracks and traces sustainable content throughout the entire value chain. This enables us to process sustainable feedstock together with fossil fuels and accurately attribute a proportion of the end material as sustainable.

The implications of this are enormous: It means that we can start processing sustainable feedstocks today, with the flexibility to either utilize our existing facilities or invest in new ones as needed. We can adapt our operational processes and ensure the availability of reliable quantities of circular or renewable raw materials. Additionally, we can scale up or down according to market demand and the availability of materials.

This entire process is independently certified by ISCC PLUS, giving confidence in the sustainability credentials of our materials to both our customers and their customers.

We extend an open invitation to our customers to collaborate with us in our shared journey to live within the safe limits of our planet, every day.