São Paulo – Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, CEO of Saudi petrochemical company SABIC, advocated on Friday (25) at the B20 Summit in São Paulo for the global chemical industry to advance towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing productivity. He also highlighted what the sector has done to foster this change.
He delivered the talk “Circular Value Chains and the Future of Chemicals” during the B20 Summit, an event that brings together business sector discussions within the G20, a group of the world’s largest economies, which this year is chaired by Brazil and will hold its heads of state summit on November 18 and 19 in Rio de Janeiro.
“I believe the chemical industry can decarbonize and add value to consumer products. The key [to making this happen] is to be a benchmark in the circular economy,” said Al-Fageeh, advocating for increased recycling of plastics and derivatives and promoting emission reductions through greater electrification, energy efficiency, and carbon capture and storage.
SABIC and the chemical industry work to foster reuse
Al-Fageeh said the chemical industry is already capable of converting 40% of the oil from its raw materials into products, and the future involves production units that can not only reduce emissions but also recover what they have emitted. The most modern plants can use solar energy generated from farmland in some locations. However, for this to happen, production units need to be adapted to receive new energy sources.
This is not enough, the executive emphasized, if plastic waste and garbage are not recycled or reused. Al-Fageeh mentioned that the sector has been working together to foster the reuse of products made by the chemical industry, in addition to investing in the creation of recycling infrastructure.
“All these help reduce the sector’s emissions, as well as encourage the recycling of materials,” said Al-Fageeh, who met this week with the CEOs of some of Brazil’s largest manufacturing, fuel, and food companies. SABIC and oil company Saudi Aramco are master sponsors of the B20.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
