Chemicals
Our chemicals are used as feedstocks for the plastics and chemicals industries. These products are essential and irreplaceable at present, but we’re committed to minimizing their environmental impact. To do this, we’re shifting to a circular business model.
Our operations
Our Chemicals business unit produces monomers, base chemicals, and polymers. We own 50% of Borouge International, a global leader in high-performance polyolefin materials used across Consumer Products, Infrastructure, Energy, Mobility and Advanced Products.
Our Chemicals strategy
Our priorities are to:
- optimize our base chemicals business by maximizing cracker utilization and integration across the value chain
- scale up our circular and low-carbon business by advancing technologies such as ReOil®
Sustainable base chemicals
Base chemicals are the fundamental building blocks of 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. We make our sustainable base chemicals from alternative resources that are sourced:
- from the earth, in the form of plant-derived biomass
- from land, through transforming existing waste using chemical recycling
- from the air, using carbon capture technology, which is being scaled from low volumes today to potentially larger volumes in the future
A circular economy for plastics
A circular economy minimizes waste across a product's lifecycle — from thoughtful initial design through to efficient end-of-life management.
Together with Borouge International, we’re leading the transition to a circular economy for plastics:
- OMV’s ReOil® chemical recycling technology turns plastic waste into pyrolysis oil, thereby replacing fossil resources in the production of new plastics
- Borealis’ circular cascade sets out a whole-lifecycle approach to minimizing the impact of plastics on the planet, including its BorcycleTM M & C advanced mechanical and chemical recycling technologies
Building on these initiatives, we aim at becoming European leaders in recycling technologies.