We strive to minimise the environmental impact of our operations by continuously improving and modernising them. The next step in environmental protection and the implementation of the circular economy’s principles was the signing of an international declaration called Operation Clean Sweep (OCS). On this basis, since 2021 we have been applying the principles of the programme to limit and prevent plastic (pellets, flakes, powder) leakage into the environment, coordinated by the European association PlasticsEurope.
The unintentional loss of pellets occurs in various phases of the plastic value chain. The pellets can end up being flushed into the sewerage and water flows, ultimately reaching the ocean. Plastic pellets are the second largest source of microplastics in the EU entering a water environment. These emissions reach 41,000 tonnes a year!
The objective of OCS is to introduce the proper maintenance and procedure for retaining pellets, flakes and powder whenever handling plastics, leading to zero losses, protection of the environment and saving precious resources.
ORLEN Unipetrol joined the OSC initiative in 2020. In doing so, we committed to fulfilling the following 6 measures:
To improve the configuration of the workplaces in order to resolve the leak of industrial plastics.
To create and publish internal procedures to achieve zero losses of industrial plastics.
To ensure the training of employees and the responsibility for the prevention of spilling, retention, cleaning and liquidation.
To regularly perform an audit.
To comply with all the valid state and local regulations concerning the retention of industrial plastics.
- To encourage our partners (suppliers, transporters, distributors, etc.) to pursue the same objectives.
How ORLEN Unipetrol prevents plastic pellet pollution: