Sustainable operations
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Sustainable operations

Environmental management

Infineum is committed to operating in a safe, secure, reliable, and environmentally sound manner. Our approach to environmental management is defined by our Operations Integrity Management System (OIMS), which has been a central part of our strategy since Infineum started in 1999. It continues to ensure that environmental protection is incorporated into our business planning processes and project appraisals.

OIMS covers the following elements:

• Identifying, assessing and managing significant environmental
  aspects, including carbon, energy, water, and waste;
• Proactive measures to prevent environmental incidents
  and releases;
• Continuous improvements in environmental performance.

Our commitment to zero harm extends to protecting nature and we aim for zero environmental incidents in our operations. Furthermore, we have set environmental targets for each of our manufacturing plants and business and technology centres on carbon emissions, energy, water, and waste. The performance of each site is monitored on a monthly basis through an interactive sustainability dashboard that is accessible to all colleagues.

All our global manufacturing sites maintain ISO 14001 certification. Infineum has also signed the Responsible Care Global Charter, the chemical industry’s global unifying commitment to the safe management and handling of chemicals throughout their life cycle. 

Energy and climate

We are committed to reducing GHG emissions across our operations, by increasing energy efficiency and using more renewable energy.

Our ambition is to achieve a 50% reduction in the emission intensity of our scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2030 and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

In recent years, we have implemented measures to make our manufacturing plants run more efficiently, including heat integration, unit and equipment upgrades, temperature controls on tanks and many other energy conservation techniques. We also introduced an internal proxy cost of carbon to inform all capital investments and steer our decarbonisation efforts.

Following a setback our emission intensity reduction trajectory caused by owing to a drop in production volumes in 2023, we are now progressing with the implementation of decarbonisation roadmaps to get back onto our 2030 trajectory.

Scope 1 and 2

A successful decarbonisation initiative at our manufacturing plant in Bayway involved reducing tank storage temperature, resulting in significant savings in steam usage. Our local teams have also been collaborating with our onsite energy provider to enable the incorporation of hydrogen in the fuel mix, reducing the emission intensity of the steam used onsite. In our Singapore plant, an initiative to consolidate the cooling water supply was successfully implemented, thereby reducing one of the site’s biggest sources of electricity consumption. Furthermore, a capital project to upgrade 194 steam traps is expected to deliver 230 tonnes of emissions reductions in 2025.

We are also working to reduce our scope 3 GHG emissions and have identified options to achieve a 20% absolute reduction in scope 3 emissions by 2030.
 
Discover some of our product and supply chain initiatives to reduce scope 3 emissions. 

Water and waste

Environmental targets covering water use and waste generation are set at each one of our sites, including manufacturing plants and business and technology centres. These targets are monitored on a monthly basis throughout the year. 

Water

Water is crucial to our business, and with most of our plants located in close proximity to the sea or to rivers, we take a stewardship approach to water management at all our sites. Each manufacturing plant upholds strict processes to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and laws. We seek to limit our use of freshwater as much as possible and the majority of the water we withdraw comes from the sea and is used predominantly for cooling and fire emergency readiness. Under normal operating conditions, this water can be safely returned to the sea with minimal losses. 

 

Waste

We aim for the highest standards in waste reduction, and all sites are working to reduce hazardous waste and waste to landfill. We require waste to be disposed of in a safe and environmentally sound way. Our waste management programme is underpinned by an annual external audit of environmental data which has led to improvements in data quality and reliability. We continue to implement initiatives that focus on both waste reduction and cost savings. 

ZDDP Eco-Mode initiative receives
Responsible Care Award

An initiative to optimise raw material usage in our Vado ZDDP Unit is expected to lead to a reduction in GHG emissions associated with the disposal of waste by approximately 800 tons of CO2 equivalent per year. This initiative has been awarded a 2024 Responsible Care Award by the Italian Federchimica, the National Federation of the Chemical Industry.