TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Formosa Plastics Group’s seven subsidiaries earned top ratings from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) for their carbon reduction and water reuse efforts, marking the group’s strongest sustainability performance to date.

CDP, an international organization that runs environmental disclosure systems for companies, assessed more than 22,000 companies this year. Of these, 172 were recognized for carbon and water management, including 20 from Taiwan, per CNA.

The group said its companies check their water use annually, identify potential water risks, and link audits to their management systems. They have also upgraded water recycling technology, allowing nearly 13 uses for each drop of water.

Huang Yi-chuan (黃溢銓), senior vice president of the company’s Environmental and Safety Center, said the group is reducing carbon emissions by cutting raw material use and optimizing energy consumption.

The group noted its carbon emissions in 2024 fell to 45.33 million tonnes, a 26% reduction from 2007. It aims to reduce emissions by 35% by 2030 compared with 2007 levels and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

To further reduce carbon emissions, the group has continued replacing its oil-fired boilers with gas-fired ones. It also plans to increase purchases of green electricity and expand solar and small hydropower installations.

Huang added the group has adopted AI technology to optimize processes and run energy-saving simulations, while using big data monitoring to reduce energy consumption.

Formosa Petrochemical, a subsidiary, has partnered with National Tsing Hua University and National Cheng Kung University to launch a carbon capture pilot at its factory in Yunlin’s Mailiao Township. The project uses chemicals to capture carbon from the smokestack, which the company will then purify and use as raw material for production.

In addition, the company is developing technology to combine the captured carbon with hydrogen to produce methane or methanol, which can be used in production or as fuel.