The number of deaths from pollution caused by Europe's largest plastics plant being built in Antwerp will exceed the number of permanent jobs it will create, lawyers say in a lawsuit released Thursday.
In documents submitted to the court, the study suggests air pollution from Ineos' €4 billion petrochemical plant will cause 410 deaths once operational, compared with the 300 permanent jobs the company says will be created.
Lawyers, community members and financial experts have taken Belgium's council to court over a dispute over permission to shut down a plastics plant.
The chemical plant will convert ethane from US shale gas fractionation into ethylene – a raw material used to make plastic – in a process called “cracking”. The plant, called Project One, aims to speed up European plastic production. Petrochemical plants emit particulate matter as a result of their operations.
Plastic production has grown more than 200-fold since 1950 and is expected to nearly triple again by 2060, to more than a billion tons per year, largely driven by the use of single-use plastics. for packaging and containers for drinks and food products.
Client Earth's Tatiana Lujan, who is leading the case, said new evidence showed that in addition to the risks to life, Project One's carbon emissions would significantly exceed Ineos' own estimates.
The Ineos assessment showed projected direct annual carbon emissions of 655,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), roughly equivalent to Eritrea's output. But lawyers say the company failed to calculate emissions over its full life cycle.
A Data Desk report submitted to the court said emissions across Project One's entire supply chain could reach 3.8 million tonnes of CO2e each year, around five times higher than Ineos' environmental impact assessment.
Luján said: “We know categorically that we no longer need a global plastics infrastructure. However, right here in Europe, the authorities are doing everything they can to open the largest plastics plant on the continent.”
“Project One has a shiny image, but its history is based on fossil fuels. The gas supply chain is riddled with inequities and huge emissions, and this currently goes unnoticed. Meanwhile, experts have detailed the predicted local impacts that people in Belgium are unaware of.”
Since the legal battle began, courts around the world have clarified the need to include so-called Scope 3 emissions in environmental impact assessments. These are emissions that do not occur on site but would not have been generated if the site did not exist.
Luján added: “Recent rulings on how authorities should calculate the true impact of industrial development change the perspective of this legal issue. This is the first time the court will hear a Class 3 and plastic case. This makes this case decisive.”
Ineos told the Guardian they had not been formally notified of or received the appeal and were unable to comment in detail on the arguments. “We are disappointed that NGOs have once again decided to take legal action despite our invitation to them to engage in dialogue about their concerns. It is also unfortunate that the legal certainty of investment in industrial renewal in Europe is continually being undermined. This occurs in a context where our European manufacturing industry is heading towards further deindustrialization due to a lack of protection from growing imports from regions not subject to strict environmental regulations.”
They added that they remain fully committed to the project:
“the cleanest steam cracker in Europe, with half the carbon dioxide emissions of the most efficient European plants.”
