Perstorp to Save One Billion Liters of Water

Perstorp to save more than one million litres of fresh water annually at Stenungsund plant. Sustainability solutions provider Perstorp is investing in a unique project at its production operations in Stenungsund, Sweden, that will allow it to use waste water from a nearby municipal treatment facility. This will result in annual savings of 1.1 million litres of fresh water. The project will secure future water supply for Perstorp's Stenungsund facility. It also aligns with the company's long-term sustainability commitment to become "Finite Material Neutral". "This is a significant advance in core technology for Perstorp," says Anna Berggren, Vice President Sustainability. "We plan to apply this to more facilities worldwide in the future to reduce fresh water consumption. Fresh water scarcity is already a reality globally. The chemical industry has a responsibility to reduce its consumption and find new solutions that can support society as a whole," she said. All Perstorp production plants use water for multiple purposes: as a solvent for chemical reactions, as a carrier for products, as a heat transfer medium, and for cooling, for example. One way to reduce fresh water consumption is to treat and recycle waste water. The Stenungsund project will allow waste water from the municipal water treatment facility to be further treated and reused at Perstorp's Oxo production facility. The recycled water will also be used for renewable hydrogen production through electrolysis and other strategic investments as part of Perstorp's disruptive transition project Air. "This project is a key enabler in combining commercial growth with sustainable development," Berggren says. Project Air is an initiative to transform the chemical industry towards climate neutrality. Perstorp Group and its partner Uniper will produce sustainable methanol for chemical production using circular production methods and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 500,000 tonnes annually. This is equivalent to the annual emissions of approximately 340,000 new fossil fuel-powered vehicles. Andreas Utbult from Global Technology & Investment adds: "This exciting water treatment and recycling project will involve close collaboration with several partners in the Stenungsund region. It exemplifies how Perstorp uses technological expertise to translate its sustainability vision into concrete investments."