The last month of the year is one of celebration, presents and happy tidings. Also at INEOS. Because on 17 December, the Province of Antwerp granted us the environmental permit for the realisation of Project ONE. This is the crowning glory of the hard work of the permitting team, which meticulously prepared the application with a well-substantiated dossier.

The green light for Project ONE is good news for Flanders and Europe. Over the past twenty years, investments of this magnitude (over 3 billion euros) have mainly gone to regions such as China, the US and the Middle East. Thanks to Project ONE, Europe will get a real boost in its ambitions to remain a world player in the chemical sector. Antwerp’s petrochemical industry, in particular, will receive an economic injection with the arrival of this innovative steam cracker. The investments in Lillo will create 450 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs.

In addition, the permit is a good thing for the climate. We don’t want to wait any longer and have consistently opted for the best techniques that are already available today. Our ethane cracker will have the lowest carbon footprint in Europe: three times lower than the average European steam cracker and less than half of that of the 10% best performers in Europe. This means we will have a significant impact on the benchmark for steam cracker carbon emissions within the European Emissions Trading System (ETS). This will encourage other European steam crackers to reduce their emissions as well. In other words: Project ONE is setting a new environmental standard.

With the approval of our project by the Province, we can end this year on a positive note. Another eventful year, indeed, but one that brought many new perspectives. On to better in 2022!

On behalf of INEOS Project ONE and myself, I wish you happy holidays and all the best in the new year.

John McNally, CEO INEOS Project ONE

With Project ONE, INEOS is building a ground-breaking steam cracker in Antwerp. We’re raising the bar by lowering CO₂ emissions.

If we want to tackle climate change, we need to focus on solutions that dramatically reduce carbon emissions right now. With the best techniques available today. Waiting is no longer an option. Project ONE brings this renewal. In Antwerp, so that we can make our chemical cluster here more sustainable and stronger.

Since our last newsletter, the employees of INEOS' existing sites have not stood still. Below you will find a brief overview of some of our realizations:

• Not only pupils and students went back to school on 1 September. Three INEOS Oxide employees are teaching in secondary schools for a few hours per week, passing on their practical experience.
  
  
• With a blow-off line – a 'dry'car wash for lorries – INEOS O&P Lillo blows away all remaining plastic granules efficiently, safely and accurately. In Zandvliet the blow-off street is also almost finished.
  
  
• The streets of Antwerp were the setting for the Antwerp Night Marathon and the 10 Miles. Many INEOS colleagues ran as well.
  
  
• INEOS announced a €2 billion investment in green hydrogen production. The first production sites will be built in Norway, Germany and Belgium over the next 10 years.
  
  
• The European Commission's ‘innovation radar’ recognised INEOS Styrolution and Indaver's 'ABSolutely Circular' demo project for the production of ABS plastic from recycled materials.
  
  
• From Geel, over Lillo tot Doel, employees participated in the Port Cleanup at the port of Antwerp and in the litter action in the Kempen.
  
  
• Together with VT Group, INOVYN is developing the first hydrogen-powered barge for liquid chemical bulk transport in Europe.

Together with the team members of the young Climate and Energy Network at INEOS all employees of INEOS in Belgium wish you a year in which we may come back together again, work together and have fun together.