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

Our use of a waste mitigation hierarchy prioritizes waste avoidance when feasible. When it’s not, we work to reduce, recover, or reuse waste whenever possible.

We aim to dispose of waste only if other options have been exhausted, and we have robust processes to select waste sites that meet our high standards and expectations.

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

Our approach

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.

These measures include source reduction, reuse, recycling, reclamation, handling, storage, and transportation, as well as treatment and/or disposal of any remaining waste in compliance with applicable regulations.

What is a waste mitigation hierarchy?

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

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 materials 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.

spotlight

Operation Clean Sweep (OCS): Best-in-class containment

The joint venture we operate Gulf Coast Growth Ventures near Corpus Christi, Texas, uses extensive controls designed to prevent “nurdles” – the pellets created in our manufacturing of plastics – from escaping to the environment. These controls include:

  • Pellet inceptors at the site outfalls.
  • Interior unit collection systems.
  • Pellet handling enclosures.

The site has maintained a record of zero reportable pellet discharges under OCS Blue reporting standards1 since beginning operations.

Project Waste Management Standard

Our Project Waste Management Standard, part of our overall Project Environmental Standards, informs our project selection and design decisions. These standards help us to:

  • Ensure we have infrastructure in place to manage, treat, and dispose of waste from project construction and operations.
  • 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.

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
  • Groundwater
  • Safety
  • Security

 

In 2024, 80% of the waste from our operated assets and remediation activities was managed by third-party facilities assessed by independent evaluators. We expect this number to increase as the audit program grows.

Zero Waste to Landfill

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

In the past two assessments, the global lubes network has achieved Gold validation by demonstrating a more than 95% diversion rate through our efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Solutions as simple as repair and reuse of container pallets and as complex as an advanced distillation process to recover laboratory solvent have enabled us to redeploy to new, productive uses more than 50,000 tons of waste produced per year.

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 and rehabilitation

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

Decommissioning principles

Our decommissioning plans incorporate applicable regulatory requirements and globally accepted practices. We aim to be responsive to concerns and opportunities identified through external engagements and integrate the results into our decommissioning plans where appropriate.

Decommissioning an offshore asset can be complex and present unique challenges. At these assets, 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.

In 2024, nearly 17% of the material generated from decommissioning our significant onshore projects was diverted from landfills.2

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.

When divesting real property, we work to identify ways to return it to beneficial reuse. ExxonMobil Environmental and Property Solutions (E&PS) is our global organization that supports the remediation and stewardship of surplus onshore sites. From the group’s creation in 2008 through 2024, E&PS has managed more than $9.3 billion of onshore remediation work and returned 4,000 properties to beneficial end uses. In 2024, E&PS managed approximately 3,400 active remediation onshore sites in 22 countries. Beginning in 2025, the acquired assets from Denbury and Pioneer will be incorporated into our portfolio as we continue the integration into our business.

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    FOOTNOTES:

    1. For more details visit OCS Blue - Operation Clean Sweep
    2. Does not include Denbury or Pioneer data.