Orica on track to reduce emissions by 200,000 tonnes annually

Orica has announced that, by deploying tertiary abatement technology at its Yarwun facility in Gladstone, it expects to eliminate an estimated 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂-e) annually once the project is complete.

The company said that the installation of two tertiary abatement reactors at the Yarwun manufacturing facility will eliminate the equivalent of approximately 50% of the facility’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, it is estimated the project will reduce Australia’s overall industrial chemical sector emissions by 4%¹ and Queensland’s emissions for the same sector by approximately 16%².

The installation of the first reactor at Yarwun was achieved earlier this year, with the second reactor in the final stages of commissioning, to be operational by the end of September. It follows the successful implementation of similar tertiary emissions abatement technology at Orica’s Kooragang Island facility in New South Wales, which is forecast to reduce Australia’s chemical industry emissions by 11%³.

“Sustainability is at the core of our purpose, and we continue to make progress towards our sustainability and climate targets,” said Orica Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Sanjeev Gandhi. “This milestone highlights Orica’s commitment to sustainability, to supporting our customers in achieving their sustainability goals and to our long-term support of the local Gladstone region.

“The federal parliament’s passage of safeguard reforms last year provided Orica with the investment certainty we needed to proceed with the extension of our decarbonisation strategy. This outcome demonstrates how the right policy settings can enable key corporate commitments and result in significant emissions reductions, even across hard-to-abate sectors.”

Orica’s Yarwun facility supplies products to mining, agriculture and infrastructure customers throughout Australia and around the world. Tertiary abatement will provide its customers with lower carbon intensive products and enable the reduction of its Scope 3 emissions.

<sup>1. Time period Orica FY2019 (October 2018 - September 2019), sourced from DCCEEW National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: Quarterly Updates, <<https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/nggi-quarterly-update-dec-2023-data-sources.xlsx>>
2. Time period CY2018, sourced from Queensland Government State of the Environment Report 2020, <<https://www.stateoftheenvironment.des.qld.gov.au/pollution/greenhouse-gas-emissions/industrial-processes-sector-greenhouse-gas-emissions>>
3. Forecast for 567,000 tCO2-e reduced from KI. Time period Orica FY2019 (October 2018 - September 2019), sourced from DCCEEW National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: Quarterly Updates, <<https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/nggi-quarterly-update-dec-2023-data-sources.xlsx>></sup>

Image credit: Orica.