Circular economy - Turning plastic waste into raw material
A circular economy aims to keep materials in use and reduce waste throughout the product lifecycle, from product design to end-of-life collection, sorting and treatment.
Recycling technologies
Recycling technologies can help recover materials from waste streams and return them to production processes.
Since 2009, we have been developing our own proprietary chemical recycling technology. Today, we continue to invest in the development and scale-up of recycling technologies in Europe.
Our chemical recycling process converts post-consumer plastic waste streams that meet defined technical feedstock requirements into circular feedstock for the production of chemicals, including new plastics.
By increasing the use of circular and renewable feedstocks, we aim to reduce our reliance on virgin fossil-based feedstocks. The environmental performance of each application depends on factors such as the waste input, the processing technology and the energy used.
ReOil®
ReOil® is our proprietary chemical recycling technology that converts post-consumer plastic waste that is not suitable for mechanical recycling into circular feedstock for the production of chemicals, in particular new plastics. We operate ReOil® at our Schwechat refinery in Vienna and are continuously investing in advancing this technology to ensure a reliable supply of circular feedstock for the market.
We operate a ReOil® plant at our Schwechat refinery with a processing capacity of up to 16,000 metric tons of mixed plastic waste per year – equivalent to the annual plastic waste generated by 160,000 Austrian households. The new plant builds on the experience gained from our pilot unit, which has been operating since 2018.
Our ReOil® plants are ISCC PLUS certified, which ensures that the circular content is verifiably tracked and traced throughout the supply chain. This approach allows for accurate accounting of materials at every stage of the production process, providing a clear and credible way to attribute recycled content. The certified circular share is allocated to specific products according to the rules of the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) scheme.
Value chain integration
Through our stake in Borouge International, OMV contributes to initiatives related to recycling technologies and the increased use of circular feedstocks.
Borouge International pursues initiatives across different stages of the plastics lifecycle, including product design, collection, sorting, reuse and recycling. These initiatives aim to keep plastic materials in circulation for longer and support efficient resource use.