Borealis celebrates its first 30 years

• Polymers pioneer and innovator is now accelerating the industry transition to circularity
• Ever-expanding global footprint and consistently customer-centric approach
• Strong growth trajectory ensured thanks to the dedication of Borealis’ people

In March 2024, Borealis is commemorating its thirtieth year of operations. Born of a merger between Statoil and Neste, Borealis has expanded from its early Nordic roots to become one of the world’s top ten polyolefins players and driver of industry change. Its dedication to value creation through innovation has produced proprietary and transformative technologies which benefit society and accelerate the transition to a circular economy. The company is regularly ranked as Austria's top innovator in the European Patent Index and holds an extensive patent portfolio of around 8,900 granted patents. In Europe in particular, Borealis has for decades bolstered the industrial landscape by investing heavily in its capital assets, and by providing thousands of highly-skilled jobs in the communities in which it operates.

“On the occasion of our 30th birthday, we at Borealis are exceedingly proud of how we have built on our European heritage, along with our technological prowess, to become a global industry player,” says Thomas Gangl, Borealis CEO. “Industry is the bedrock of societal prosperity. For three decades, Borealis has helped accelerate progress and raise living standards by creating value through innovation. As we drive the industry transformation to a circular economy of plastics, and continue to reinvent the essentials for sustainable living, we will keep investing in our people, assets, and our communities.”

A foundation of innovation: Borstar®, Borcycle™ and beyond

Building on its proprietary technologies and more than 50 years of experience in polyolefins, Borealis supports key industries with plastic raw materials for a wide range of applications in the areas of consumer products, energy, healthcare, infrastructure, and mobility.

Borealis uses technological innovation to add value to polyolefin-based applications, ensure that production processes are made more resource efficient, and to accelerate plastics circularity. Borstar®, the multi-modal proprietary technology for the manufacture of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), has been a mainstay of Borealis success since the start-up of the first Borstar PE plant in Porvoo, Finland in 1995. Borstar has since been joined by other technology brands, like Borlink™, the step-change innovation for the power cable industry; Borstar® Nextension Technology, a breakthrough innovation that among other benefits facilitates the production of monomaterial applications designed for recycling; or the Borcycle™ M technology for mechanical recycling, which breathes new life into polyolefin-based, post-consumer waste, transforming it into high-quality applications with a lower carbon footprint.

Ongoing global expansion, from Porvoo to Pasadena

With the strong support of its two majority shareholders OMV (Austria) and The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC, UAE), Borealis continues to expand its global footprint to become a fully customer-centric provider of advanced and sustainable polymer solutions in key sectors such as energy, mobility, consumer products, and infrastructure. The joint venture Borouge, established in 1998 in the UAE, and listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) since 2022, is one of the world’s largest integrated polyolefin complexes. It is currently the site of the company’s largest-ever growth project: Borouge 4, the new USD 6.2 billion facility in Ruwais, which will serve customers in the Middle East and Asia. In North America, the Baystar™ joint venture, founded in 2017 and operated with partner TotalEnergies, entailed the construction of a new ethane cracker as well as the most advanced Borstar plant ever built outside of Europe. The state-of-the art, USD 1.4 billion PE Borstar 3G plant in Pasadena, Texas was started up in late 2023 and has brought Borstar to this continent for the first time. Borealis’ commitment to Europe as a production location is evidenced by the new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant currently under construction at Borealis operations in Kallo, Belgium.

Upholding the highest standards in ESG

A common set of values – We Care, We’re Curious, We Progress – govern all aspects of doing business at Borealis, and unite a highly multicultural and diverse group of employees from around 120 countries. Sustainability is embedded in all Borealis endeavors, from R&D to production, from procurement to stakeholder engagement, and decarbonization. By 2030, 100% of the electricity used to operate its own production operations in Europe will be of renewable origin. Borealis will reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from 5.1 million tons/year (the 2019 baseline) to under 2 million tons in 2030[1].

Borealis also strives to be among the safest companies in the petrochemicals sector, with a commitment to “Zero Harm” and a stated goal of becoming the industry leader in Health, Safety, Security, and the Environment (HSSE) by 2030. It is a signatory to progressive initiatives such as the recent Antwerp Declaration for a European Industrial Deal, an effort to restore industry competitiveness and safeguard jobs in Europe while reinforcing the aims of the European Green Deal. Borealis is likewise committed to upholding the principles of important international initiatives, including those forwarded by the Circular Plastics Alliance and the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty. The Borealis Social Fund seeks to enhance the social welfare of the communities in which Borealis operates; one important program is Project STOP, dedicated to preventing plastic leakage into marine environments in Indonesia. Borealis and Borouge’s Water for the World Initiative is helping solve the challenge of global water supply and sanitation in rural and urban communities in both South-East Asia and Africa.

[1] Emission reduction targets have been calculated on the basis of a 2023 divestment of the Borealis nitrogen business comprising fertilizers, melamine and technical nitrogen products.]

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Have we your interest? For more information:

• Walk down memory lane on our history page
• Enjoy our 30 years anniversary celebration video
• Have a look at our website and browse through our media gallery
• Find us on LinkedIn

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