Shell plans to upgrade, and process pyrolysis oil made from plastic waste, at its new upgrader plant at Shell’s Chemicals Park at Moerdijk, Netherlands, before delivery and further conversion at Braskem’s polypropylene plant in Wesseling, Germany. The upgrader, which is under construction, has a capacity to process up to 50,000 tonnes of pyrolysis oil a year and will remove many of the impurities found within pyrolysis oil to produce higher quality feedstock for chemicals production. This upgraded feedstock can be used to replace conventional virgin fossil feedstocks for the chemicals industry.

Daniëlle Ebentreich, Chief Marketing & Sustainability Officer at Shell Chemicals states “This agreement emphasizes our commitment to addressing challenging environmental issues, like plastic waste and hard-to-recycle plastics. By using our investments in innovative, sustainable projects at Shell’s strategically positioned Energy and Chemical Parks we are able to play a key role, together with our partners throughout the value chain, in unlocking sustainable solutions for our customers and society.”

“Adopting initiatives that include plastic waste recovery, and mechanical and chemical recycling in our production processes is connected to our company’s purpose to provide a more circular and sustainable future, on top of the leading position Braskem has in biopolymers globally. This agreement represents an important step to combine Shell’s technology and infrastructure with Braskem’s polymer expertise and market knowledge towards more sustainable and scalable solutions”, says Walmir Soller, VP of Olefins and Polyolefins at Braskem Europe & Asia.

Pyrolysis oil is a liquid that replaces virgin hydrocarbons in the production of chemicals which are the building blocks of a wide range of products we use every day, including new plastic products, while pyrolysis is a special heating process that turns hard-to-recycle plastics into a pyrolysis oil. Mass balance is an independent accounting process and widely used across the industry which enables Shell to attribute the circular nature of pyrolysis oil to specific end products produced with mix of traditional and novel circular feedstocks. The product will be verified through independent and third-party ISCC PLUS-certification.

A complementary solution to mechanical recycling, chemical recycling can help improve recycling rates and introduce products with more recycled content to the market. An enabling policy framework that incentivises both demand and supply of circular products is critical to unlock investment, introduce more recycled products to everyday life and achieve a more circular economy for plastics. Recycling and recycled content targets are key to driving demand for circular products.

Cautionary note

The companies in which Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this press release “Shell”, “Shell Group” and “Group” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this press release refer to entities over which Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as “joint ventures” and “joint operations”, respectively. “Joint ventures” and “joint operations” are collectively referred to as “joint arrangements”. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as “associates”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “aim”, “ambition”, ‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘expect’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, “milestones”, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘outlook’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘risks’’, “schedule”, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘should’’, ‘‘target’’, ‘‘will’’ and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this press release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, judicial, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; (m) risks associated with the impact of pandemics, such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak; and (n) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

. These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this press release and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of press release, 16 January , 2024. Neither Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

Shell’s net carbon footprint

Also, in this press release we may refer to Shell’s “Net Carbon Footprint” or “Net Carbon Intensity”, which include Shell’s carbon emissions from the production of our energy products, our suppliers’ carbon emissions in supplying energy for that production and our customers’ carbon emissions associated with their use of the energy products we sell. Shell only controls its own emissions. The use of the term Shell’s “Net Carbon Footprint” or “Net Carbon Intensity” are for convenience only and not intended to suggest these emissions are those of Shell plc or its subsidiaries.

Shell’s net-Zero Emissions Target

Shell’s operating plan, outlook and budgets are forecasted for a ten-year period and are updated every year. They reflect the current economic environment and what we can reasonably expect to see over the next ten years. Accordingly, they reflect our Scope 1, Scope 2 and Net Carbon Footprint (NCF) targets over the next ten years. However, Shell’s operating plans cannot reflect our 2050 net-zero emissions target and 2035 NCF target, as these targets are currently outside our planning period. In the future, as society moves towards net-zero emissions, we expect Shell’s operating plans to reflect this movement. However, if society is not net zero in 2050, as of today, there would be significant risk that Shell may not meet this target.

Forward Looking Non-GAAP measures

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