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PTAir

The petrochemicals that we produce are used in many aspects of day-to-day life -- from pharmaceuticals and lightweight automotive components to high-tech sportswear

Retailers and brand owners are seeking more environmentally-friendly solutions that will help reduce the carbon impact of their products and are choosing brands that reflect their concerns for the environment. Through the PTAir product suite and collaboration with our customers and our customers’ customers, BP is taking an important step to improving sustainability in the polyester industry and helping it advance towards a lower carbon future.Rita GriffinBP Petrochemicals chief operating officer
PTAir™ logo

Learn more about PTAir™ 1

By finding ways to reduce the carbon associated with some of the main products that we make, we are advancing low carbon in our own operations while helping our customers meet their carbon goals for the products and services they provide.  

 

We invented2 a process for purifying terephthalic acid more than 50 years ago, and today it is a key ingredient for making recyclable PET bottles for water and soft drinks. PTA is also used extensively in manufacturing clothing, home textiles, carpets and industrial fibre products.  

 

Through our research and development efforts, we introduced a latest generation PTA technology in our Zhuhai, China facility that delivers 65% fewer GHG emissions, 75% less water discharge and 95% less solid waste disposal in its manufacturing process than the manufacturing process for conventional PTA technology of the 1990s.3

 

This latest technology was also retrofitted into our production facilities in Geel, Belgium and Cooper River in South Carolina, in the United States. Our new technology has resulted in improvements to energy efficiency in these facilities. It has allowed us to offer a unique new product range that includes world-class PTA technology and BP Target Neutral’s carbon offsetting expertise.  

 


PTAir 

In support of our wider sustainability agenda, we launched a new low carbon PTA4: PTAir in 2016, offering our customers in the polyester value chain the opportunity to purchase a lower carbon feedstock. A feature of PTAir is its use of proprietary PX and PTA technology which supports a 29% lower global warming potential than the average European PTA production,5 which has been independently assured. BP customers can also go further in advancing their low carbon objectives by accessing the additional benefits of PTAir Neutral and PTAir Neutral Products. 

View more information on independent assurance

PTAir Neutral

We have also launched PTAir Neutral, the world’s first certified carbon neutral PTA.6 PTAir Neutral offers customers the opportunity to purchase a carbon neutral product with net zero carbon emissions. This is accomplished through BP Target Neutral, which invests in various carbon emission reduction projects which are located around the world. These programs provide economic, social and environmental benefits to the communities they serve. 

 


PTAir Neutral products

BP customers also have the opportunity to offset their entire product carbon footprint – over and above their PTA use – to achieve full carbon neutrality across their product portfolio. This unique offer is made possible through BP’s non-profit division, BP Target Neutral.

 

PTAir is available in Europe, the United States and China today.

1. PTAir is a trade mark of BP p.l.c.
 
2. United States Patent Office 3,238,849 Patented Nov. 29, 1966 3,288,849 PROCESS FOR PURIFYING TEREPHTHALIC ACID Delbert H. Meyer, Highland, Ind., assignor to Standard Oil Company, Chicago.
 
3. Derived from BP’s internal analysis Evaluating Energy Processing Technology, conducted in 2016. Data in this internal analysis was derived from BP’s actual operating data from six of its PTA manufacturing facilities.
 
4. Based on data in the “Eco-Profile of Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and p-Xylene Produced by BP in Geel,” prepared by Institut Und Umweltforschung Heidelberg (IFEU), dated March 2016, which uses Plastics Europe Methodology to compare the environmental impact of 1 Kg of BP Geel PTA manufactured with BP integrated PX (integrated production) to PTA produced in Europe. The European data is contained in the report entitled “An Eco-Profile and Environmental Product Declaration of the PET Manufacturers in Europe, Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA),” prepared by the Committee of PET Manufacturers in Europe (CPME aisbl), dated February 2016. Both studies were conducted in accordance with ISO 14040–44 requirements. Data for both studies included BP’s 2013 Geel production data. A mass balance approach was used, which was based on the proportion of integrated PX versus the total consumption of PX.
 
5. This figure is compared to the Global Warming Potential (100 years) per 1 kg PTA as published in the Environmental Product Declaration of the PET Manufacturers in Europe February 2016. PTA produced by BP Aromatics NV in Geel is included in the European study average and represents ~30% of the total installed production capacity in Europe in the input.
 
6. Carbon neutrality of PTAir Neutral achieved by BP Aromatics Limited NV, BP Zhuhai Chemical Company Ltd., and BP Aromatics Ltd. PTAir is certified to the PAS 2060 standard for defined periods and assured by DEKRA Assurance Services GmbH.