Orica to halve Yarwun emissions

Orica’s Yarwun facility supplies essential products to mining, agriculture and infrastructure customers throughout Australia and around the world.
(Image source: Orica) Orica’s Yarwun facility supplies essential products to mining, agriculture and infrastructure customers throughout Australia and around the world.

Orica (ASX: ORI) announced a project to eliminate about 50% of greenhouse emissions at its Yarwun manufacturing facility in Queensland.

By deploying tertiary abatement technology Orica expects to eliminate about 200,000t of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.

The installation of two tertiary abatement reactors is expected to reduce Australia’s overall industrial chemical sector emissions by 4% and Queensland’s emissions for the same sector by about 16%, according to Orica.

Orica sats this tertiary abatement will provide customers with lower carbon intensive products and enable the reduction of their Scope 3 emissions while supporting the overall decarbonisation goals of regional communities and economies.
(Image source: Orica) Orica says this tertiary abatement will provide customers with lower carbon intensive products and enable the reduction of their Scope 3 emissions while supporting the overall decarbonisation goals of regional communities and economies.

The installation of the first reactor at Yarwun was achieved safely, on time and on budget earlier this year, with the second reactor to be operational by the end of September.

This follows the successful implementation of similar tertiary emissions abatement technology at Orica’s Kooragang Island facility in NSW, which is forecast to reduce Australia’s chemical industry emissions by 11%, according to Orica.

Orica is continuing to build on progress delivered in FY2023, with emissions already reduced by 22% from 2019 baseline levels.
(Image source: Orica) Orica is continuing to build on progress delivered in FY2023, with emissions already reduced by 22% from 2019 baseline levels.

Orica chief executive Sanjeev Gandhi says sustainability is at the core of Orica’s progress towards sustainability targets.

“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, [Queensland] region,” he said.

“The [Federal Government’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.”

These initiatives are essential for Orica to meet its 2030 target to reduce net operational Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by at least 45% and achieve net zero by 2050.

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