LyondellBasell has cut its 2030 sustainability goals, looking to balance ambitious environmental targets with near-term achievability.
The Houston-based chemical and polymer manufacturer announced Monday it was lowering several targets, citing the need for “disciplined capital allocation, evolving market conditions and regulatory developments,” the company said in a release announcing the move. LyondellBasell lowered its annual recycled/renewable polymer goal to 800,000 metric tons, from 2 million, and adjusted its 2030 Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction target to 32%, from 42%.
The company announced its intention to produce 2 million metric tons of recycled and renewable-based polymers per year earlier this decade, but current economic realities make that goal unrealistic, CEO Peter Vanacker said. Initial goals laid out in the last decade were increased soon after the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company also established net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions targets for 2050 as part of a broader move to improve the sustainability of its products.
“Over the last several years, we have made measurable progress and gained a deeper understanding of factors that enable us to deliver value from circular and low-carbon solutions, including the pace of policy adaptation and implementation market demand and technology readiness,” he said. “At the same time, maintaining capital discipline is essential.”
Among the successes, the company cited maintaining its pace toward 50% renewable electricity procurement by 2030, as well as progress on its MoReTec-1 chemical recycling plant in Germany. That facility is on target, but a second facility in Houston was put on hold last summer.
The company also recently halved its fourth-quarter dividend, to 69 cents per share from $1.37 a year ago.
