ExxonMobil to grow shareholder value by meeting need for energy

ExxonMobil said it plans to grow shareholder value by delivering solutions that help meet the global need for energy and for lower greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Darren Woods, chairman and chief executive officer, outlined how the company’s strategy leverages its capabilities and competitive advantages at the annual meeting of shareholders. "We have opportunities to play a leading role in helping society achieve its net-zero ambitions and in meeting the world’s growing demand for energy and essential products,” said Woods. “Recent events have reminded us how globally connected energy markets are. They’ve also underscored the importance of our role in creating sustainable solutions that improve quality of life, while supporting a lower-emissions future."

ExxonMobil in April streamlined its business structure to consist of three core businesses – Upstream, Product Solutions and Low Carbon Solutions – to fully leverage the company’s competitive advantages of scale, integration, technology, functional excellence and highly skilled workforce.

Woods highlighted the company’s strong performance in 2021, noting that earnings significantly improved to USD23 B and cash flow from operating activities totaled USD48 B, the highest since 2012. Future plans include structural cost savings of USD9 B per year by 2023, compared to 2019, and more than USD15 B of investments through 2027 on initiatives to lower greenhouse gas emissions. They include investments to reduce emissions from company operations and to advance critical technologies like carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and biofuels, which together are expected to develop into multi-trillion-dollar markets in the decades ahead.

In the near term, ExxonMobil is increasing production of the energy resources and products the world needs. For example, in Guyana, the company has two oil fields in production and two more in development, and made new discoveries that increased the estimated recoverable resource to nearly 11 B barrels of oil equivalent.

In the Permian Basin in the United States, ExxonMobil expects to produce more than 550,000 oil equivalent barrels per day this year, which would represent a production increase of 25% on top of the increase achieved in 2021. The company’s state-of-the-art Corpus Christi chemical complex started production on schedule and under budget and delivered positive earnings and cash flow in its first quarter of operations.

ExxonMobil continues to mitigate emissions from its operations and achieved its 2025 emission-reduction plans four years earlier than planned. This progress supports the company’s more aggressive 2030 greenhouse gas emission-reduction plans and its ambition to achieve net-zero scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions from operated assets by 2050.

During the annual meeting, shareholders re-elected ExxonMobil’s board of director nominees, supported the company’s executive compensation program, ratified PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as independent auditors and passed one proposal by shareholders. The proxy voting results will be made available on the company’s website as soon as practical.

As per MRC, ExxonMobil has made three new discoveries offshore Guyana and increased its estimate of the recoverable resource for the Stabroek Block to nearly 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels. The three discoveries are southeast of the Liza and Payara developments and bring to five the discoveries made by ExxonMobil in Guyana in 2022.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas, shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
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VinylPlus exceeds 810,000 tonnes of PVC recycling in 2021, said Sustainableplastics.

At the 10th VinylPlus Sustainability Forum, livestreamed from Brussels today, participants could look back at a successful first year of the new VinylPlus 2030 Commitment, the voluntary 10-year commitment adopted last year by the European PVC industry aimed at minimising the environmental impact of PVC production and manufacturing. VinylPlus 2030, building on the efforts of the previous two voluntary 10-year commitments, aims to proactively contribute to addressing priorities at the European and global levels.

"We aim to contribute to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with a particular focus on sustainable consumption and production, climate change and partnerships,” said Brigitte Dero, Managing Director of VinylPlus. “This, in full alignment with relevant EU policies under the European Green Deal, such as the EU Circular Economy Action Plan and the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability."

Despite the fraught conditions of the past year, 810,775 tonnes of PVC waste were recycled and used in new products by European PVC industry through the voluntary commitment, which represents around 26.9% of the total PVC waste generated in 2021 in the EU-27, Norway, Switzerland and the UK. VinylPlus’ recycling rate is above the 23.1% recycling rate estimated by AMI Consulting for the overall plastics recycling in Europe in 2021. In total, some 7.3 million tonnes of PVC having been recycled into new products since 2000, preventing the release of more than 14.5 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

VinylPlus has also made advances in ensuring the traceability of waste. To that end, Recovinyl, responsible for monitoring and verifying the recycling of PVC waste throughout Europe, launched RecoTrace to further enhance its recording and tracing schemes for recycling volumes and the uptake of recyclates in new products. RecoTrace is the first system to comply with the monitoring requirements of the EU Circular Plastics Alliance.

We remind, PVC and caustic soda manufacturer Vinnolit, a Westlake company, will be renamed Westlake Vinnolit.
As part of its ongoing growth, the parent company Westlake is standardizing the brand identity of the entire Group.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of unmixed PVC was about 999,300 tonnes in 2021, up by 7% year on year. The emulsion and suspension PVC market showed stronger demand, despite over a twofold price increase. December estimated SPVC consumption was 81,200 tonnes (excluding deliveries to the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan) versus 74,690 tonnes a month earlier.
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France is continuing to lead the way in the development of the polyethylene terephthalate chemical recycling industry in Europe, with a spate of new facility announcements set to build out capacity in the country, as per Sustainableplastics.

Chemical recycling is increasingly seen as the route to large-scale plastic waste recycling. French plant supply can help consumer brands reach recycled plastic content targets. Key challenge to overcome remains collection and sorting of suitable feedstocks. France will have three polyethylene terephthalate (PET) chemical recycling facilities opening by 2025, aiming to become the leader in new recycling technologies in Europe. Announcements from Eastman, Loop Industries and Carbios highlight not only the opportunities but also the challenges still facing the recycling industry. Namely, feedstocks.

The announcements point to positive progression within the chemical recycling sector for PET, but also raises questions around Europe’s – and the world’s – ability to provide these new facilities with the material they need.

Any new venture that requires plastic waste as a feedstock makes the established but supply constrained mechanical recycling sector nervous – especially if they view the new capacities as competition for raw materials.

At present the operating capacities of chemical recycling plants remains low in comparison to mechanical recycling, and Europe has a lower capacity in comparison to some regions such as Asia Pacific and North America at less than 100,000 tonnes/year.

Capacities are projected to rise rapidly, given the announced projects and assuming adequate volumes and qualities of feedstocks can be sourced to feed those plants.

We remind, Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) with its facility Wellman France Recycling in Verdun, has been working on the PET trays recycling for 6 years and through an ongoing project with VALORPLAST and supported by CITEO. The project has the objective to develop and validate recycling for monolayer and multilayer PET trays.

As per ICIS-MRC Price Report, April PET chips supply to the country increased to 15,000 tonnes, compared to 13,500 tonnes a month earlier. Imports of material were at 31,500 tonnes in April 2021.The share of Chinese material was 99% (14,900 tonnes) in April versus 89% (12,000 tonnes) a month earlier. Supply of bottle grade PET increased by 10% in the four months 2021 compared to the same period last year - from 67,100 tonnes to 73,700 tonnes.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Interface Polymers Ltd. and Flexipol Ltd. have jointly won funding through a competition run by UKRI’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging challenge, said Sustainableplastics.

The GDP850K grant is to finance a 24-month collaborative project entitled ‘Recycle Ready’ multi-layer barrier plastic packaging films, aimed at the development of fully recyclable LDPE multi-layer packaging suitable for upcycling into high-value applications.

The project brings together Interface Polymers’ internationally patented surface functionality Polarfin additive technology that overcomes inherent molecular level non-compatibility between polyolefins to enable them to be recycled, and Flexipol’s film technology expertise and flexible packaging manufacturing capabilities.

Using Interface Polymers’ compatibility enabling di-block copolymer additive, the project is looking to build in recyclability as an integral part of originally manufactured multi-layer domestic and commercial packaging product formulations that can be viably scaled up. The aim is to provide a new range of Recycle Ready multi-layer packaging with a recyclability classification that will allow the waste to be collected and 100% reclaimed via existing pure stream reprocessing centres instead of being incinerated or sent to a landfill. The project team is also looking to provide multi-layer barrier packaging options with a minimum of 30% recycled material that will not incur the ?200 per tonne plastic packaging tax introduced in the UK in April 2022.

The vast majority of existing multi-layer barrier plastic packaging cannot be recycled as it is classified according to ASTM D7611 RIC (resin identification code) as RIC “7” - indicating that the resin does not belong to the other types of resin defined from categories 1 to 6 (PET, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, PP, PS). It therefore mostly ends up being incinerated or disposed of in landfills, creating a waste problem that is subject to increasing socioeconomic and legislative pressures.

While consumer demand for more sustainable product alternatives such as mono-layer plastic packaging is rising, mono-layer flexible packaging has for the most part not been able to deliver the same level of functionality, performance and product benefits provided by multi-layer barrier plastic packaging. The key aim of the Recycle Ready project is the development of fully scalable alternative LDPE multi-layer barrier films for the commercial production of food approved multi-layer flexible packaging that can be repeatedly recycled using existing pure plastic waste streams sorting and separation processing plants.

In addition to the film qualification and production scale-up of the new range of Ready Recycle multi-layer packaging products, Flexipol will be working with established bulk food processors. This ensures that the entire value chain is included in the project, from packaging production, food product packaging and packaged food processing, to post-use waste packaging collection and washing for recycling. The longer term objective is to leverage solutions coming out of this project into other multi-layer barrier film packaging sectors using alternative polymers, including PE, PET, EVOH and PA.

As per MRC, Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) with its facility Wellman France Recycling in Verdun, has been working on the PET trays recycling for 6 years and through an ongoing project with VALORPLAST and supported by CITEO.

We remind, Axens and Toray Films Europe have plans to establish a new Pet chemical recycling facility in Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost, France. The new units will make use of Axens’ Rewind Pet technology along with Toray Films Europe’s existing polymerization plant to recycle 80,000 tons of Pet plastic waste every year.
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Can the aluminium traditionally used as a barrier layer in food carton packages be safely replaced by a more environmentally friendly barrier? According to Tetra Pak, it looks as if that may well be the case, said Sustainableplastics.

The company first spent 15 months on the commercial technology validation of the use of a polymer-based barrier to replace the aluminium layer, and is now moving forward with tests using a fibre-based barrier - a first within food carton packages distributed under ambient conditions, said Tetra Pak.

The development of the fibre-based barrier is a response to the expectations of the end market, said Tetra Pak. Consumer research from around the world revealed that approximately 40% of consumers would be more motivated to sort for recycling if packages were made entirely from paperboard and had no plastic or aluminium.

The aluminium layer that is currently used in food carton packages is important for ensuring food safety. However, although thinner than a human hair, it contributes to a third of the greenhouse gas emissions linked to base materials used by Tetra Pak.

Seeking to reduce the climate impact of this type of packaging, Tetra Pak initiated in late 2020 the commercial technology validation in Japan of the use of a polymer-based barrier layer, which helped to provide insight into the value chain implications of the change and to quantify the carbon footprint reduction. It also confirmed adequate oxygen protection for vegetable juice, while enabling increased recycling rates in a country where recyclers favour aluminium-free cartons.

Incorporating these learnings, the company is now testing a new fibre-based barrier, in close collaboration with some of its customers. A first pilot batch of single serve packs featuring this industry-first material are currently on shelf for a commercial consumer test, with further technology validation scheduled later in 2022.

“Early results suggest that the package with a fibre-based barrier will offer substantial CO2 reduction when compared to traditional aseptic cartons, together with comparable shelf life and food protection properties,” said Gilles Tisserand, Vice President Climate & Biodiversity, Tetra Pak, “We believe this development will therefore act as a breakthrough in reducing climate impact. In addition, cartons with higher paper content are also more attractive for paper mills; thus, this concept presents clear potential for realising a low carbon circular economy for packaging."

Tetra Pak is investing EUR100 million per year over the next 5 to 10 years to further enhance the environmental profile of food cartons, including the research and development of packages that are made with a simplified material structure and increased renewable content, added Eva Gustavsson, Vice President Materials & Package, Tetra Pak. To that end, the company will be collaborating not just with customers and suppliers, but also with an ecosystem of start-ups, universities and tech companies, she said, ‘providing us access to cutting edge competences, technologies and manufacturing facilities’.

"There is a long journey ahead of us, but with the support of our partners and a strong determination to achieve our sustainability and food safety ambitions, we are well on our way."

As per MRC, Tetra Pak and Saudi paper manufacturer Obeikan Paper Industries have entered into a joint venture to recycle used beverage cartons. Tetra Pak's Sustainability Director for Greater Middle East & Africa Rodney Reynders told a media round table in Cairo that the company will invest about USD1 million in the recycling unit, which will convert beverage cartons into value-added products.

We remind, In 2010, Tetra Pak had set a goal to double its recycling rate to 40 percent by 2020.
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