Product Safety

OMV assumes responsibility for delivering safe, high-quality products. At the same time, we continuously work on exploring ways to reduce the environmental impact of the life cycle of our products. We take a holistic approach to product safety, with technologically advanced solutions used to deliver safe, top-quality products, at the same time as taking action to ensure the responsible use of our products.

Product safety is also particularly important for our C&M segment, which encompasses our chemicals subsidiary Borealis. When not properly handled, chemical substances, or products containing them, can pose risks to health, safety, and the environment. These risks include potentially negative health effects such as sensitization, irritation, or intoxication; physical hazards such as fires, explosions, or exposure to dust; and environmental hazards such as bioaccumulation or persistence.

Specific Policies and Commitments

Our internal Management of Hazardous Substances standard stipulates measures to ensure regulatory compliance and guarantee that risk assessments are conducted for all products or for hazardous substances contained in products.

REACH Compliance

We have established appropriate processes and workflows to ensure our compliance with EU regulations on the Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) and on the Classification, Labelling, and Packaging (CLP) of substances and mixtures, as well as with the Toxic Substances Control Act in the United States. We are committed to maintaining and updating our mandatory registrations to keep up with relevant regulatory developments. To this end, we closely follow the guidance published by the European Chemicals Agency and partic­ipate in the REACH consortia (Concawe, Lower Olefins and Aromatics, Fuel Ethers, Co-processed Refinery Products, Phenol and Derivatives, Melamine, FARM [Fertilizer and Related Materials], Eurogypsum, etc.), as well as in working groups through oil and chemical industry trade associations.

In addition to keeping REACH registrations up to date, Borealis also follows the developments on authorizations and restrictions under REACH, such as the planned restriction with regards to synthetic polymer microparticles (better known as microplastics) that is due to be adopted during 2023. The drafted restriction foresees a ban on plac­ing products containing microplastics on the market but derogates the use of plastic pellets on industrial sites. However, there are planned supply chain communication and reporting obligations toward the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) that will apply for Borealis polyolefin products.

Banned Substances

Borealis has a Banned Substances List that contains more than 220 substances and substance groups that may not be used in our production processes and products. The Banned Substances List can be found on the Borealis website.

Responsible Care^®

Borealis is committed to the principles of Responsible Care^® and enforces high product stewardship standards to ensure that its products do not pose a risk at any stage along the value chain.

Management and Due Diligence Processes

Risk Assessments

Borealis has adopted a hazardous chemicals strategy. This follows the precautionary principle of continuously assessing the risk potential of all substances used in Borealis’ products to identify critical chemicals no longer permitted to be used or that can be replaced by safer alternatives. This includes all substances that were already classified as substances of very high concern (SVHCs) according to REACH and other comparable legislation outside the EU, or that fulfill the criteria to be considered as SVHCs in the future. The risk evaluation utilizes a tailor-made analysis and assessment tool that ranks the substances according to their overall risk. It considers related HSE risks and regulatory aspects, evolving stakeholder concerns, the technical feasibility of substitution, and the financial consequences of doing so, such as the costs of required innovation, approval, and modifications to technical equipment. Substances with the highest identified risk are further assessed by the Product Stewardship Council. The Council selects the substances to be evaluated using the Borealis Risk Matrix, which is a proprietary ranking tool to evaluate risks in detail. These assessments enable Borealis to identify, mitigate, and manage the risks posed by hazardous chemicals.

Quality Control

All incoming chemicals used in Borealis’ products are assessed, rated, and documented to ensure legal compliance before they are approved for use. Local teams then perform additional assessments at each plant to ensure the chemicals meet plant-specific requirements and comply with national or community-related legislation. This process ensures that the procurement organization does not purchase any substance before the Product Stewardship Council has reviewed and approved it. Once materials are approved for purchase, they are subject to Borealis’ quality control measures to ensure they continue to comply with the agreed material properties. Detailed information is documented for all materials regarding their composition and their hazardous constituents. Proper documentation of the raw materials used is a key element of high-quality Borealis product compliance statements, such as safety data sheets (SDSs) and application-related statements, including those on medical use, food contact, drinking water, and the origin of raw materials.

Safety Data Sheets

Safety data sheets (SDSs) are available on the OMV and Borealis websites. These documents are regulated under REACH and include comprehensive information on potential health, safety, and environmental issues. In addition, they inform customers and employees about how to handle and use our products safely. Borealis active­ly follows its suppliers’ SDSs and the harmonized classification process to ensure it always has accurate and up-to-date SDS and label information for our products.

2022 Actions

The OMV Group aims to become a global leader in circular economy solutions with a strong focus on increasing the use of sustainable fuels (e.g., Sustainable Aviation Fuel; SAF) and feedstocks.

Borealis’ activities regarding the circular economy and exploring sustainable feedstock result in new product safety and compliance aspects to consider and solve. Both existing and planned legal frameworks, for example following the EU Commission’s Green Deal, require industry and brand owners to use post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials for their products. The Product Stewardship Council is providing support by generating an overview of applicable legislation and available industry standards to produce a risk assessment and analytical testing strategy so we can confirm compliance and the suitability of Borealis’ Circular Economy Solutions portfolio.

In 2022, all Borealis, mtm plastics, and Ecoplast mechanically recycled products underwent analytical testing to support the confirmations on our compliance statements. These documents were harmonized and published during 2022 and proved to be of high value to our customers.

Moving from fossil to renewable feedstock is another important aspect of the Group’s sustainability journey. Using this type of feedstock from animal and agricultural waste, however, raised other product safety challenges that needed to be tackled. After a thorough analysis of the related aspects, the messages on Kosher, Halal, animal origin, genetically modified organisms, and vegan status have been revised in the statement on raw material origin for the PO products concerned.

Outlook

Our Group objective is to drive sustainability by mini­mizing the potential hazards and risks associated with our portfolio. In 2023, Borealis will focus on implementing the long-awaited amendments to the food contact regulation for plastics and on submitting its 50–80 registration dossiers for the Turkish equivalent of the REACH legislation.