Minimizing operational waste

Everyone at ExxonMobil plays a role in reducing operational waste. And the first step is finding ways to avoid it entirely. 

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In our operations, we follow a waste mitigation hierarchy that prioritizes waste avoidance when it’s feasible. When it’s not feasible, we work to reduce, recover, or reuse waste as often as possible.

When managing waste, we aim to dispose of waste only if other waste management options have been exhausted, and we have robust processes to select waste sites that meet our high standards and expectations. Everywhere we work, we strive to deliver leading environmental performance. The standards and practices we apply around the world often go beyond local legal requirements.

Image United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to this content.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to this content.

Our approach

Protect Tomorrow. Today. is our guiding principle, and our Environment Policy details our commitment to continuous efforts to improve environmental performance. Our Operations Integrity Management System and Environmental Aspects Guide help us understand and manage risks associated with waste from our facilities. 

We work to avoid generating waste and take a broad range of measures to mitigate and eliminate waste that is generated. 

To do that, we use a waste mitigation hierarchy that starts with waste avoidance.

We are committed to the management and treatment of waste in a manner that incorporates industry best practices. 

Our work is also informed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

What is a waste mitigation hierarchy?

A waste mitigation hierarchy is commonly used by businesses, governments, and even individuals to minimize waste by prioritizing waste management practices.

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It consists of five stages:
  1. Avoid waste: Facilities are designed and operated to be efficient and to optimize the materials and feedstocks used.
  2. Reduce | Recover | Reuse: Systems are in place to separate oil from water and solids, so oil is recovered and water can be reused. Where practical, waste materials are collected and sent for reuse, such as making fuel. 
  3. Recycle: Through the waste segregation processes, we collect materials like paper, plastic, electronics, aluminum, used oil, filters, glycols, scrap metal, tires, batteries, and aerosol cans to be recycled.
  4. Treat: Where appropriate, impacted soil and groundwater at our operating and surplus sites are treated to reduce waste volume or eliminate contaminants. 
  5. Dispose: When necessary, we dispose of waste in an environmentally responsible manner (e.g., through our Waste Facility Risk Assessment Program).

We continuously look for ways to minimize waste through practices like process changes; raw material changes; material handling, storage, and transportation; as well as treatment and/or disposal of any remaining waste in compliance with applicable regulations.

We regularly review and improve methods for managing waste at our facilities. On-site waste personnel are trained on effective waste controls, applicable regulations, and our own environmental practices. Corporate and regional staff provide technical guidance on waste reduction and recycling opportunities.

As part of our Project Environmental Standards (PES), our Project Waste Management Standard informs decisions for our major projects. This standard helps us to:

  • Reduce the quantity of waste and the potential hazards associated with a project.
  • Promote waste minimization, recycling, and reuse throughout the life of an asset.
  • Ensure we have infrastructure in place to manage, treat, and dispose of waste from project construction and operations. 

spotlight

Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) and Advancing Pellet Containment

Plastic resin pellets, also known as nurdles, are the building blocks of many essential products, from food packaging to medical supplies. Keeping these small pellets where they belong requires consistent, high-level containment standards and the execution excellence to meet them. That’s why ExxonMobil is a proud participant in Operation Clean Sweep® (OCS) – a global stewardship program focused on eliminating pellet loss across the plastics value chain.

In the U.S., our sites follow OCS Blue program requirements, which represent the program’s most rigorous tier for U.S. manufacturers. Our practices and controls include a range of fit-for-purpose measures, such as pellet interceptors at outfalls, wastewater filtration systems, interior unit collection systems, and pellet-handling enclosures – all designed to prevent pellet loss across a variety of operating activities.

Spotlight

Zero waste to landfill in our global lubes network

In 2018, ExxonMobil’s global network of lubricants blending and packaging plants earned a Zero Waste to Landfill Silver validation from Underwriters Laboratories.1 ExxonMobil was the first petroleum products company to achieve this validation. 

Solutions as simple as repair and reuse of container pallets and as complex as an advanced distillation process to recover laboratory solvent have enabled redeployment of more than 50,000 tons of waste produced per year to new, productive uses. 

In the past three assessments, the global lubes network has achieved Gold validation by demonstrating a

more than 95%

diversion rate through efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Spotlight

GCGV Upcycles Industrial Textiles to Reduce Waste

Fashion pieces made from donated items.

When we say everyone plays a role in operational waste reduction, that can include working with unexpected community members to address specific items in the waste stream. For example, employees at the Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV) joint venture we operate worked with Houston-based nonprofit Magpies & Peacocks to give new life to the fire-retardant clothing used in the plant. 

In April 2025, the team collected used flame-retardant clothing from the plant and donated it for reuse and upcycling into new fashion pieces. Magpies & Peacocks showcases the potential for materials like these at an annual fashion show, and we are pleased to continue our support. 

Waste Facility Risk Assessment Program

We are committed to using third-party waste facilities that follow industry best practices for waste management and environmental protection. Through our Waste Facility Risk Assessment Program, we evaluate selected waste facilities in most countries where we operate to make sure they meet our requirements. Facilities are reviewed by internal experts or assessed by independent contractors. 

Areas of evaluation include:

  • Facility design and operations
  • Management systems
  • Regulatory compliance history 
  • Community relations
  • Financial capacity
  • Site geology and groundwater
  • Safety
  • Security

In 2025, 99% of the waste from our operated assets and remediation activities was managed by third-party facilities assessed by independent evaluators. 

Supplier waste management

We aim to work with our suppliers to identify ways to reduce environmental impacts. Our global sourcing strategy encourages consideration of environmental performance including finding and reducing waste and inefficiency in our supply chain. 

Decommissioning

Decommissioning is the process of dismantling, removing and/or finding alternative uses for facilities. Detailed planning and preparation can start up to 10 years before decommissioning activities begin

Each site is unique. Our approach may vary by location, type of asset, and local environmental and socioeconomic characteristics. The decommissioning process can include a range of activities such as emptying and cleaning of production systems, plugging wells, dismantling structures, and transporting, recycling, or disposing of materials, and restoring local habitats.

In 2024, we developed five decommissioning principles for both onshore and offshore, reflecting our comprehensive approach. These were rolled out to our decommissioning practitioners company-wide in 2025.

Our decommissioning principles

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Our decommissioning plans incorporate applicable regulatory requirements and globally accepted practices. Recognizing that decommissioning is a multi‑year and complex process, we consider end‑of‑field‑life requirements at appropriate stages throughout an asset’s lifecycle. We aim to be responsive to concerns and opportunities identified through external engagements and integrate the results into our decommissioning plans where appropriate.

In 2025 nearly 20% of the material generated from decommissioning our significant onshore projects was diverted from landfills.2

We are advancing end-of-field life planning for several late-life assets in our global portfolio. Decommissioning offshore assets can be complex and present unique challenges and our plans consider specific marine ecosystems and facility characteristics, including complexity, size, and weight.

The Sable energy project in Canada, for example, started its life in late 1959 when exploration near Nova Scotia began. As Canada’s first offshore natural gas project, Sable provided decades of strategic benefits and billions of dollars of economic benefits to the region. By 2020, wells were plugged and abandoned, onshore processing plants were dismantled, and offshore and onshore pipelines were cleaned and flushed. That same year, all seven of Sable’s offshore platforms were removed, and about 99% of the materials were recycled. 

Rehabilitation and remediation

Rehabilitation is the process of safely repurposing assets that no longer support our operations. Our goal is to prevent legacy impacts on the environment while creating opportunities for beneficial reuse. The remediation strategies and final commercial or economic uses are as unique as the communities in which we work. 

In Frontignan, France, for example a 66,000 sq ft inflatable tent to reduce noise, dust, and potential impacts to local air quality was deployed when decommissioning a World War II-era refinery. The 27-acre tract of land will be returned to the government when work is complete.

In DePue, Illinois, a 120-acre storage site was transformed into a 71,000 solar panel farm, generating revenue and electricity for the town of 1,600 people.

From 2008 through 2025, the environmental solutions team managed more than $9.7 billion of onshore remediation work and returned more than 4,200 properties to beneficial end use. In 2025 alone, we managed approximately 3,200 active remediation onshore sites in 22 countries. 

Inflatable tent deployed in France when decommissioning a World War II-era refinery. 

Returning property to beneficial environmental and community use

Image Returning property to beneficial environmental and community use

Spotlight

Beneficial reuse milestone in Greenpoint

Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York.

The Northeast section of Greenpoint, in Brooklyn, New York, is a heavily industrialized area and the former site of numerous refinery and chemical operations dating back to the mid 1800s. Refinery operations ended in 1965, when the Mobil Oil Refinery (formerly Standard Oil Company of New York) was dismantled. The site continued operations as a terminal until 1993.

Environmental remediation efforts have been underway at the 174-acre site since 1979 in coordination with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). With approximately 300 million gallons of groundwater treated per year, more than 9.5 million gallons of product have been recovered to date. While conducting this important work, ExxonMobil and the ExxonMobil Foundation have continued to engage with and support the local community, schools, and non-profit organizations, including the Greenpoint YMCA and the North Brooklyn Angels.

A significant milestone was achieved in 2024 with the sale of the final 10-acre parcel of the former terminal. The divestment of the parcel enables the vacant property to be redeveloped for industrial use that will potentially generate economic benefits for the community.

Click here to learn more about our long-term commitment to the Greenpoint, Brooklyn community.

Aerial view of Bowling remediation site
Spotlight

Remediation and community engagement

The environmental aspects we consider include socioeconomic and other aspects of the human environment because the work we do - even at the end of an asset’s life cycle - can make a difference in the communities where we work.

In Rotuma, Fiji, for example, our affiliate faced numerous unique variables in decommissioning a terminal – including cultural heritage concerns raised by the local Rotuman community. Within Fiji culture, the spirits of ancestors are thought to reside in the land and surrounding seas. The onsite work team included Rotuman personnel who helped establish agreement with all parties that any soil removed would be transported by a Fijian crew to respect local customs.

In Bowling, Scotland, remediation work on a 150-acre decommissioned terminal site began in 2021. A unique aspect of the project was use of innovative soil washing technology that physically separates and “washes” soil, with onsite water treatment enabling approximately 75% of the washwater to be reused in the process. As a result of this work, around 92% of the soil excavated at site has been re-used. Local engagement with a broad range of stakeholders from landowners and consultants to contractors and regulators has been key, because the site sits near the 14th century Dunglass Castle, an important historical landmark. 

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    FOOTNOTES:

    1. Network includes the owned or contracted plants that blend and package all of the Mobil-branded lubricant products sold by ExxonMobil or its affiliates; excludes products manufactured and sold by third parties under a license. 
    2. Does not include Denbury or Pioneer data.