SearchToward a greener Europe: SABIC’s commitment to inclusive innovation
In 2022, SABIC will mark twenty years of serving our customers in Europe. Our presence in almost all European countries, and a global footprint as the third largest diversified chemical company, truly enables us to bring Chemistry That Matters™ to the region. Never has this been more important, with the EU aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, and be climate-neutral by 20501.
As expressed in our 2020 Sustainability Report, our commitment to helping Europe achieve its ambitious climate targets has catalyzed SABIC’s wider work on climate roadmaps for Saudi Arabia, Asia, and the Americas.
In short, this commitment towards a greener Europe, and a better tomorrow, is at the very core of our mission.
Sustainability at the core
As a leader in delivering sustainable solutions across Europe, we enable a cleaner future by addressing some of the biggest environmental challenges - one of which is the impact of used plastic.
To address the growing used plastic challenge, SABIC is constructing the world’s first commercial scale advanced recycling unit to close the loop on plastics and upscale production of certified circular polymers derived from used plastic. Our existing TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio and services, is further evidence of this commitment, and key to the work we do with our partners to eliminate plastic waste.
We’ve set ourselves ambitious targets to reduce our environmental impact that are aligned closely with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These commitments are detailed in our Roadmap, which outlines how we can contribute to realizing the SDGs through five strategic priorities, namely, Portfolio Assessment and Design; Carbon Efficiency; Renewable Energy; Circular Economy and Sustainable Growth.
While we still have plenty of work to do, we have seen great progress through our European projects. For example, we recently signed a joint agreement with BASF and Linde to collaborate on the world’s first electrically heated steam cracker furnace. The project aims to reduce the CO2 emissions by powering the chemical production process with electricity. By using electricity from renewable sources, the fundamentally new technology has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 90%.
We are continuing to collaborate with partners across the value chain, including in Germany where we are working with BP to drive the circular economy in petrochemicals forward. Building on a long established relationship between the two companies at Gelsenkirchen, low quality mixed and used plastic will be recycled into pyrolysis oil by BP. SABIC is then using the oil to produce certified circular products as part of the TRUCIRCLE portfolio and services.
In 2020, we also signed an agreement with Iberdrola to power our Cartagena facility with 100% renewable energy by 2024. With 100MW of installed solar power, this will be the world’s first large-scale chemical production site to operate entirely on renewable power.
A trusted local partner
Today, SABIC is a strong player in the European chemicals and polymers market, with a presence in almost every European country. Astute brand acquisitions, and a focus on retaining talent and experience, have ensured we maintain deep local knowledge across our 39 European operating locations.
From packaging to transportation, and healthcare to specialties, we help provide future proof, sustainable solutions that address a diverse range of business challenges. This commitment to problem-solving ensures we remain a partner of choice to our European customers’ evolving needs.
A great example of this is our collaboration with German multinational personal care company, Beiersdorf. Here, SABIC is innovating the packaging for Beiersdorf’s world-leading ‘NIVEA Naturally Good’ range of face creams using our certified renewable polymers. This is supporting Beiersdorf’s Sustainable Packaging Targets 2025 to reduce fossil-based, virgin plastic for its cosmetic packaging products by 50 percent.
Furthermore, as a direct response to growing demand in the European market for more sustainable solutions, SABIC recently partnered with KraussMaffei to open a thin-wall packaging application center in Switzerland.
We believe that forging long-term relationships with our customers and partners, centered around common goals, leads to better products with lower environmental impact. For example, when addressing the future of plastics, we have developed relationships with several NGOs and alliances, including the UK Plastic Pact, World Plastic Council, and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. All of these organizations are vital towards advancing more sustainable practices across our operations.
With our customers, we proudly support some of the biggest European brands to build a more sustainable world. Through our work with Unilever, we are helping the multinational consumer goods company reach its commitments to achieve a 50% reduction of virgin plastic by 2025. With Unilever ice cream brand, Magnum, we rolled out more than 7 million ice cream tubs made with certified circular polypropylene from SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE portfolio that uses feedstock made from recycling used, mixed plastic. The launch marked the world’s first tub within the ice cream industry that contains recycled plastic.
An investor in people
Equally important as supporting the move toward a more sustainable world, is ensuring we invest in a diverse range of talented people.
In Europe, we have close to 5,000 employees from a rich variety of backgrounds who are highly committed to solving society’s challenges and driving sustainable and inclusive development. Indeed, according to a 2019 FT report2 on diversity and inclusion in Europe, SABIC ranked 60th out of 700 companies on the extent to which they offer a diverse and inclusive workplace.
This recognition is a result of our continued investment in developing our people. We have several programs that empower our employees to develop and carve out their future career path. Our investments in our teams, in addition to our partnerships with universities, position us as a top employer. This allows us to attract and retain the very best talent as we continue to solve some of the world’s largest challenges – and deliver Chemistry That Matters.
Links
1 https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/eu-climate-action/2030_ctp_en
2 https://www.ft.com/content/bd1b4158-09a7-11ea-bb52-34c8d9dc6d84