Borealis and Bionerga announce the joint commissioning of Biostoom, a new waste-to-energy plant constructed and operated by Bionerga in Beringen, Belgium. The long-term agreement between Borealis and Bionerga, a Belgium-based specialist in recovering energy from waste, has enabled Borealis to move closer to its goal of sourcing 50% of its total electricity consumption from renewable sources for operations in its major business areas by the year 2030. The new Biostoom Beringen facility is allowing Borealis to reduce the amount of natural gas used in operations by supplying steam and electricity recovered from processing of non-recyclable waste collected from nearby communities. The first electricity delivery took place in August, and the first steam was delivered in October 2020.
The newly-built Biostoom power station supplies steam and electricity generated from non-hazardous, non-recyclable waste collected from local households in nearby Limburg. By reducing its dependency on fossil fuel based sources of energy, Borealis is lowering its direct and indirect carbon dioxide emissions (defined as Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol) by 20% at its Beringen operations. The state-of-the-art facility generates steam and electricity exclusively for Borealis operations on site. The facility will supply nearly 100% of the electricity consumed by Borealis Beringen operations, of which 47% is considered renewable. The intake of natural gas will be reduced by around 40%.
“Life demands progress. Borealis is taking concrete steps to bring about a circular economy based on reuse, recovery and recycling. The Biostoom Beringen project is the perfect example of re-inventing for more sustainable living: if materials are not recyclable, recovering energy is the best alternative for waste that would otherwise be landfilled,” says Martijn van Koten, Borealis Executive Vice President Base Chemicals & Operations. “The fact that this project is sourcing non-recyclable waste from adjacent communities further strengthens the sustainability aspect.”
“The success of this project is the result of the careful planning and preparations carried out by highly-qualified Borealis and Bionerga teams,” says Thomas van De Velde, Borealis Senior Vice President Hydrocarbons & Energy. “This waste-to-energy recovery plant is bringing a sustainability step-change to the Borealis Beringen site. We aim to deepen and solidify co-operation with partners like Bionerga in the future.”
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Media contact:
Borealis Group Communications:
Virginia Mesicek
Senior Manager External Communications
tel.: +43 1 22 400 772 (Austria)
e-mail: Virginia.Mesicek@borealisgroup.com
Borealis Belgium:
Anne Cornelissen
Senior Specialist Regional Communications
tel.: +32 1145 9066 (Belgium)
e-mail: Anne.Cornelissen@borealisgroup.com
About Borealis:
Borealis is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions and a European market leader in base chemicals, fertilizers and the mechanical recycling of plastics. We leverage our polymers expertise and decades of experience to offer value adding, innovative and circular material solutions for key industries. In re-inventing for more sustainable living, we build on our commitment to safety, our people and excellence as we accelerate the transformation to a circular economy and expand our geographical footprint.
With head offices in Vienna, Austria, Borealis employs 6,900 employees and operates in over 120 countries. In 2019, Borealis generated EUR 8.1 billion in sales revenue and a net profit of EUR 872 million. OMV, the Austria-based international oil and gas company, owns 75% of Borealis, while the remaining 25% is owned by a holding company of the Abu-Dhabi based Mubadala. We supply services and products to customers around the globe through Borealis and two important joint ventures: Borouge (with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, or ADNOC, based in UAE); and Baystar™ (with Total, based in the US).
Borealis in Belgium:
Borealis operates three production sites in Belgium, Kallo, Zwijndrecht and Beringen as well as a shared service centre in Mechelen with a total of about 1200 employees. In Beringen, Borealis has two polypropylene (PP) plants and a compounding plant. The main application areas served from Borealis in Beringen are advanced packaging, hygiene and electronic applications and automotive industry. At Kallo, Borealis produces polypropylene and also operates a dehydrogenation unit to convert propane to propylene. In 2019 the construction works for a new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Kallo started. It will be one of the largest and most efficient facilities in the world.
In Zwijndrecht, Borealis produces ethylene copolymers and polyethylene divided over two high pressure reactor lines used for polyethylene (PE) compounds, for low density polyethylene, and material handling facilities. Main application area is wire & cable industry.
The Borealis Digital Studio was set up near Brussels in 2018 as an autonomous unit within the Borealis Digitalisation Programme and consists of a team of around 30 digital professionals. It is the company’s agile enabler for developing smart and proven added-value business solutions based on design thinking principles.
For more information:
www.borealisgroup.com
www.borealisgroup.com/beringen
www.borealiseverminds.com
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