Clariant, a sustainability-focused specialty chemical company, and OMV, an integrated oil and gas company, have announced their intended collaboration for the supply of ethylene with a lower carbon footprint. This partnership aims to meet increasing consumer demand for more sustainable options, particularly in Europe, and help both companies achieve their sustainability targets while supporting their customers’ carbon reduction strategies.
Christian Vang, business president care chemicals and Americas, and member of the executive steering committee at Clariant, stated, “We are continuously working on solutions for our customers’ journeys towards the use of lower carbon footprint ethoxylates and this cooperation is an important step forward to reach this goal. Renewable low-carbon footprint ethylene from OMV will enable us to grow our bio-based ethylene oxide derivatives portfolio, as well as strengthen the supply chain with production in Europe, for Europe.”
Since 2022, Clariant has been serving its global customer base with segregated bio-based ethoxylates through Clariant India Glycols Specialty Company Ltd. This new collaboration with OMV represents another significant step in Clariant’s commitment to providing low carbon footprint ethoxylates.
Daniela Vlad, executive vice president chemicals and member of the executive board of OMV, remarked, “There is a broad application base for ethylene oxide and derivatives, and we are dedicated to enabling sustainable transformations for our customers as well as for OMV. By fostering the supply of circular feedstock, we are reinforcing our commitment to a circular economy and sustainability. This agreement is an important contribution to the progress we are making towards our Strategy 2030 ambitions.”
OMV’s integrated business model connects various parts of the value chain, offering a flexible and reliable supply from bio-based to chemical recycling-derived sources. This approach reduces CO2 emissions and demonstrates real progress through ISCC PLUS certification of the mass balance approach. OMV has been producing renewable and circular chemicals at its refineries in Burghausen, Germany, since 2021, and Schwechat, Austria, more recently. The company plans to increase its production capacity of sustainable products to 200,000 metric tonnes, aiming for a sales volume of around 1.4 million metric tonnes by 2030 and 2 million metric tonnes thereafter. OMV’s target is a 30 percent reduction in absolute GHG emissions in Scope 1 and 2, and a 20 percent reduction in Scope 3 by 2030 compared to 2019, with a goal to achieve net zero by 2050.
Clariant and OMV plan to explore and develop new strategies to meet sustainability targets in the ethylene supply chain. This will involve sharing research findings, adopting a life cycle assessment methodology for unified approaches, and defining detailed CO2 reduction roadmaps. The partnership will also include joint analysis of collaboration potential for Ethanol-to-Ethylene technology.
Both Clariant and OMV are members of the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility initiative. This agreement is expected to help Clariant meet its 2030 climate targets, which include reducing Scope 1 and 2 absolute GHG emissions by 40 percent and Scope 3 emissions by 14 percent between 2019 and 2030, in accordance with the Science Based Targets Initiative.
Beyond their own sustainability targets, Clariant and OMV’s collaboration will support the CO2 reduction roadmaps of industry stakeholders throughout Europe, facilitating wider cooperation towards achieving collective climate goals.
For more information visit www.omv.com
