On December 12, OMV the integrated energy, fuels & feedstock, and chemicals & materials company headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and Synthos, the biggest synthetic rubber producer in Europe with a global reach, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Under the MoU, the two companies will cooperate on sustainability, focusing in particular on the supply of sustainable raw materials that can be used to manufacture high-performance tires. This step underlines both companies’ commitment to a circular economy by using bio-based and circular feedstocks, underpinning their mass-balance approach to manufacturing essential products in everyday life.

OMV and Synthos commit to a long-term cooperation on sustainable butadiene until 2030, initially using palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) and used cooking oil as raw materials. Sustainable butadiene will be produced in the steam cracker at the Burghausen refinery in Germany, which received full ISCC PLUS certification in March 2022. The first batch of sustainable butadiene was successfully delivered to Synthos in 2023.

ISCC PLUS is a global standard for recycled and bio-based materials that enables traceability along the supply chain by verifying that companies comply with certain environmental and social standards and establishing a chain of custody. This so-called mass balance approach makes it possible to track the quantity and sustainability characteristics of circular and/or bio-based content in the value chain and attribute it based on verifiable bookkeeping.

Furthermore, the MoU facilitates future cooperation on circular raw material butadiene, which is based on pyrolysis oil from end-of-life tires through a chemical degradation process that occurs at very high temperatures. This underlines the transition of both companies to a more circular economy.

Daniela Vlad, Executive Vice President of Chemicals and Materials at OMV: “Our tie-up with Synthos clearly shows that OMV is re-inventing essentials for sustainable living. To achieve this, we have a strategic goal to become a leading European producer of sustainable feedstocks for chemicals production at our integrated refineries in Schwechat, Austria, and Burghausen. At these sites, the production of sustainable chemical feedstocks will increase to approximately 300,000 tonnes by 2030.”

Synthos will use the butadiene to produce Solution Styrene-Butadiene Rubber (S-SBR), which is used in high-performance tire tread compounds for low rolling resistance, which means reducing the energy loss of a tire rolling on the road. This in turn increases the vehicle’s energy efficiency and reduces environmental impact.

All Synthos production facilities, including Synthetic Rubber plants in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany, received full ISCC PLUS certification in 2022.

Zbigniew Warmuz, CEO at Synthos: “In December 2021, we adopted our sustainable development strategy, in which we commit to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions per gigajoule (GJ) by 28% by 2030, reach zero carbon emissions by 2050 and produce 100% sustainable products by 2030. The cooperation with OMV is proof of our commitment to sustainability, which we can only achieve together with other leading companies in the value chain. Together, we can support our customers, the world’s leading tire manufacturers, to achieve their sustainability goals in terms of net zero emissions and high-performance tires with a lower carbon footprint.”

To learn more, proceed to OMV’s website.