In the Sunnylands Assertion, a joint assertion on local weather from the USA and China launched Nov. 14, each international locations declared their willpower “to finish plastic air pollution.” A serious barrier to attaining that consequence, nevertheless, is underneath building in China’s Guangdong Province. 

The world’s largest plastic producer is partnering with ExxonMobil on a multibillion greenback petrochemical complicated in Huizhou to fulfill the rising demand for polymer-based merchandise within the automotive, agricultural and shopper industries. The undertaking is reported to price a complete of $10 billion and is slated to be up and working by 2025. 

In response to Exxon’s press launch, the economic park will embody a steam cracker — a big furnace that “cracks” petrochemical inputs into fuel — with a capability of 1.6 million metric tons per yr. Worldwide, steam crackers generate round 260 million tons of emissions annually — the equal of driving over 57 million gasoline-powered automobiles in a single yr.

The brand new plant embodies the challenges of backing up worldwide agreements with tangible on-the-ground motion in a world economic system nonetheless primarily based largely on fossil fuels and petrochemicals. And it reveals the lengthy street forward for U.S. oil majors resembling ExxonMobil, which final yr acknowledged its “ambition to obtain internet zero greenhouse fuel emissions for operated property by 2050.” 

The lifespan of a typical petrochemical plant just like the Huizhou facility is measured in a long time; in line with a report from EarthJustice, launched in August, the U.S. oil and fuel trade “is planning a large build-out of petrochemical crops.”

ExxonMobil didn’t reply to GreenBiz’s request to remark for this text. 

80 million tons a yr 

In 2019, the lifecycle emissions of worldwide plastic manufacturing reached 1.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, or the equal of consuming over 4 billion barrels of oil. Knowledge reveals that over 90 p.c of emissions associated to plastic manufacturing come from the preliminary conversion of fossil fuels into plastics — the method carried out on the Huizhou plant. And yearly, plastics manufacturing contributes about 3.3 p.c of worldwide emissions. 

The brand new plant embodies the challenges of backing up worldwide agreements with tangible on-the-ground motion.

A 2019 OECD report calculated that China recycled solely 13 p.c of its plastic waste, with the remaining 87 p.c ending up incinerated, buried in landfills or discarded as litter. In 2021, China produced round 80 million tons of plastic. China’s choice to prioritize manufacturing is overwhelming the nation’s efforts to successfully enact plastics-related coverage. 

A 2022 report by Kathinka Furst of the Norwegian Institute for Water analysis and Yidi Feng of the Shan Shui Conservation Heart in Beijing discovered that of China’s 231 plastics-related insurance policies, none addresses “the manufacturing of plastic merchandise and the involvement of … chemical corporations in such processes.” 

Different pathways are underneath exploration, however they’re nascent. California-based startup Twelve makes merchandise sometimes product of plastic, resembling sun shades and auto components, product of carbon-based supplies. Twelve’s expertise is just like a steam cracker, however makes use of CO2 and water as an alternative of petroleum-based merchandise. The CO2 will be derived from any supply, together with direct air seize methods, and Twelve’s manufacturing plant is powered by renewable power. 

Different local weather tech corporations changing captured carbon dioxide into replacements for petrochemicals embody Belgium-based D-CRBN and New York-based Aircela.