2 min read - 21 Jul, 2025
INEOS invests £30m to cut Hull site emissions by 75%
INEOS has completed a major £30m investment at its Hull manufacturing site, converting the facility to run on clean-burning hydrogen instead of natural gas. The result is a 75% reduction in carbon emissions at the Saltend INEOS Acetyls facility – the equivalent of taking around 160,000 petrol cars off the road and a huge step towards the firm’s net zero commitment, well ahead of the government’s 2050 target.
The investment is part of INEOS’ wider strategy to decarbonise its operations across the UK and Europe. INEOS Acetyls is the only industrial-scale manufacturer of acetic acid, acetic anhydride, and ethyl acetate in Europe. These products are essential chemicals used in everyday life, from medicines to clean water, and the Saltend-based site now operates with dramatically lower emissions thanks to the switch to hydrogen.
INEOS has completed a £30m hydrogen conversion project at its Hull site / Picture: INEOS
David Brooks, CEO of INEOS Acetyls, said: “We’ve put £30 million into Hull to do the right thing – cut emissions, clean up the site, and future-proof our operations. We’ve slashed CO2 by 75%. That’s not a plan. That’s a result.
“Like most chemical businesses in the UK, we are working hard to compete in global markets while facing some of the highest energy and carbon costs in the world. This investment is another step in our plans to supply the UK and European markets with highly reliable and low carbon products.”
This investment will deliver a transformational step change improvement in the site’s product carbon footprint, which is already world-leading. The hydrogen used at the site is produced as a co-product from existing manufacturing processes, making it a smart, efficient use of resources already on hand. It’s a model INEOS believes can be replicated across the industry.
Carbon emissions have been reduced by 75% at the Saltend INEOS Acetyls facility / Picture: INEOS
The Hull upgrade is one of several major decarbonisation projects underway across INEOS sites, including Grangemouth and Köln, as the company pushes hard to meet, and beat, its climate targets. “We’re not waiting for 2050,” Brooks added. “We’re doing it now.”
INEOS Acetyls employs over 500 people worldwide. In Hull, it directly employs more than 300 people, supporting hundreds more through its supply chain.
