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. Through our majority stake in Borealis, we are one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions, as well as a European market leader in base chemicals and plastics recycling. Our global reach is extended through Borealis’ joint ventures Borouge (with ADNOC, based in the UAE and Singapore) and Baystar™ (with TotalEnergies, based in the US).
Our Chemicals strategy
Our priorities are to:
- become a global leader in speciality polyolefin solutions, with a significantly strengthened position in Asia and North America
- scale up the circular business and diversify into new high-value chemicals for long-life applications
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 Borealis, 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.