Developing solutions to remove fossil carbon from the value chain

Clariant, a sustainability focused specialty chemical company, and OMV today announced their intended collaboration for the supply of ethylene with a lower carbon footprint. In response to increasing consumer demand for more sustainable options, and with a particular focus on Europe, this partnership will help both companies meet their sustainability targets and deliver on the carbon reduction strategies of their customers.

“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,” said Christian Vang, Business President Care Chemicals and Americas, Member of the Executive Steering Committee at Clariant. “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.”

For Clariant this is another step on its journey towards supporting their global customer base with low carbon footprint ethoxylates. Since 2022, Clariant has successfully been serving its customers worldwide with segregated bio-based ethoxylates through Clariant IGL Specialty Chemicals Ltd (CISC).

“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,” said Daniela Vlad, Executive Vice President Chemicals and Member of the Executive Board of OMV.

OMV is leading the way to renewable and circular chemicals that enable sustainable living. OMV’s integrated business model joins up parts of the value chain, providing more flexible and reliable supply from bio-based to chemical recycling-derived sources. This approach not only reduces CO₂ emissions but also offers proof of real progress through ISCC PLUS certification of the mass balance approach.

Clariant and OMV plan to explore and develop new strategies to meet sustainability targets in the ethylene supply chain. As part of this cooperation, both companies will share their research findings, adopt a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology for unified approaches and define detailed CO₂ reduction roadmaps. This will include the joint analysis of collaboration potential for the Ethanol-to-Ethylene (E2E) technology.

OMV started its own renewable and circular production of chemicals and chemical feedstock at its refinery in Burghausen, Germany, back in 2021, and recently at its refinery in Schwechat, Austria. OMV has been steadily increasing the production capacities of sustainable products, achieving a capacity of 200,000 metric tons. Based on current forecasts, OMV expects to reach a sales volume of around 1.4 million metric tons by 2030 and 2 million metric tons thereafter. OMV sees growth in sustainable products as a key element of the Chemicals business. OMV's target is a 30 percent reduction of absolute GHG emissions in Scope 1 and 2, and a 20 percent reduction in Scope 3 by 2030 in comparison to 2019. By gradually switching over to low-carbon businesses, OMV is striving to achieve net zero by latest 2050.

Clariant and OMV are members of the UN Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility initiative. Today’s agreement between the two companies is expected to help Clariant meet its ambitious absolute emissions reductions for operations and supply chain activities, as outlined in its 2030 climate targets. Clariant’s targets, drafted in accordance with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), aim to reduce Scope 1 and 2 absolute GHG emissions by 40 percent and Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 14 percent, in the timeframe between 2019 and 2030.

Beyond the sustainability targets of Clariant and OMV, this agreement will facilitate cooperation towards meeting the CO₂ reduction roadmaps of industry stakeholders throughout Europe.