"Europe’s biggest petrochemical plant in 30 years a ‘carbon bomb’, court to hear", 24 Apr 2023

The biggest petrochemical plant to be built in Europe in 30 years will be a “carbon bomb” that will worsen the climate crisis and threaten human life, environmental groups including the NGO ClientEarth will argue in court...

[T]he “cracking” plant to be built in Antwerp by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company Ineos will create ethylene and contribute directly to huge increases in plastic production on a scale not seen in Europe, they argue.

ClientEarth and 13 other organisations will say in a Flemish court on Tuesday that the plant, known as Project One, should never have been given the go-ahead by authorities. They say the permit infringes EU environmental regulations and will adversely affect the climate, air quality and human health, as well as protected natural areas...

ClientEarth argues that the main consumer of the ethylene produced at the plant will be Ineos Manufacturing Belgium, which produces consumer plastic and in 2018 obtained a permit to expand its plastic production to 780,000 tonnes a year. The NGO says scientific evidence of the harmfulness of plastics to human health, biodiversity and the climate is increasingly compelling...

The Dutch border lies 2.5 miles (4km) from the plant, and separately the authorities in Zeeland and North Brabant are challenging the granting of the permit to Ineos...

Ineos says the plant would be the “most environmentally sustainable cracker in Europe”...

“The hydrogen that is generated during the production of ethylene (more than 100,000 tons of per year) will be used as environmentally friendly fuel as burning hydrogen does not release any carbon. This reduces our carbon footprint substantially, displacing traditional hydrocarbon-based fuels..."

The hearing will take place before the council of permit disputes...