Pollution from Ineos's Antwerp plastic plant will cause more deaths than jobs created'

"The deaths from pollution caused by Europe's biggest plastic plant, which is being built in Antwerp, will outstrip the number of permanent jobs it will create, lawyers will argue in a court challenge issued on Thursday. In documents submitted to the court, research suggests the air pollution from Ineos's 4bn petrochemical plant would cause 410 deaths once operational, compared with the 300 permanent jobs the company says will be created."

"The chemical plant would transform ethane from fracked US shale gas into ethylene the raw material used to make plastic in a process called cracking. The plant, called Project One, is designed to turbocharge European plastic production. Petrochemical facilities emit particulate matter as a result of their operations. Plastic production has increased more than 200-fold since 1950 and is expected to almost triple again to more than a billion tonnes a year by 2060, driven largely by single-use plastics used for packaging and drink and food containers."

"Tatiana Lujan, of Client Earth, who is leading the case, said new evidence showed that in addition to the risks to life, the carbon emissions of Project One would vastly exceed Ineos's own estimates. Ineos's assessment found that projected direct annual carbon emissions would be 655,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), roughly the same as Eritrea's output. But lawyers say the company failed to calculate full lifecycle emissions."

Project One is a €4bn Ineos petrochemical plant under construction in Antwerp that will crack ethane from fracked US shale gas into ethylene for plastic production. Research submitted in a court challenge estimates air pollution from the facility would cause about 410 deaths once operational, while the company projects 300 permanent jobs. Petrochemical operations emit particulate matter and contribute to rising plastic output, which has grown dramatically since 1950 and is forecast to near a billion tonnes annually by 2060. A supply-chain emissions report estimates lifecycle CO2e at about 3.8m tonnes annually, far above Ineos's direct-emissions figure.

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