Environmental Stewardship
AFPM members are committed to operational excellence and minimizing the environmental footprint of their operations and products. Refiners, petrochemical manufacturers and the U.S. midstream industry are investing billions of dollars in the latest technologies and processes to improve air quality, further reduce the lifecycle carbon intensity of U.S. manufacturing and transportation, reduce waste, conserve water, advance renewable power, increase energy efficiency and preserve our environment. Our refiners are also producing increased amounts of renewable fuels to meet the world’s energy needs while lowering the emissions of the products they manufacture.
Reducing Emissions and Improving Air Quality
Between 1970 and 2022, the combined emissions of the six common pollutants dropped by 78%.19 This progress occurred while the U.S. economy expanded and the population and energy use increased.
Petroleum refineries and petrochemical manufacturing have lowered their emissions of criteria pollutants while increasing production. In the last five years refineries have reduced particulate emissions per barrel by an additional 10%.20
The petrochemical and chemical manufacturing sectors also reduce the amount of chemical waste released to the environment by installing gas recovery units that recover and “recycle” gases, carefully monitoring to identify releases and implementing waste minimization plans. These activities result in billions of pounds of avoided air emissions each year.21
In the last five years refineries have reduced particulate emissions per barrel by 10%.
Member Achievements
Reducing Regulated, Non-Carbon Emissions
AFPM members are investing heavily to significantly reduce emissions from their facilities, while continuing to deliver critical products to the world.
- Since 2019, Phillips 66 reduced its air emissions — which include sulfur, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — by 23% across its refining assets. From 2022 to 2023, it also reduced its air emissions by 7%.
- ExxonMobil completed a $230.5 million, three-year modernization initiative at its Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery that included new technology to reduce the refinery’s emissions of VOCs by 10%.
- Marathon Petroleum’s Anacortes, Washington, refinery completed a project to incorporate selective noncatalytic reduction technology, where waste ammonia is rerouted for injection into the carbon monoxide boiler to react with oxygen and nitrogen oxide to produce nitrogen and water vapor. The project has led to a roughly 31% reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions at the site. Initiatives like this one have helped Marathon reduce criteria pollutants by 26% since 2016.23
Waste Reclamation and Recycling
AFPM members are minimizing waste by reducing and reusing materials and partnering with local recycling centers to increase the recovery and reuse of refining byproducts.
Water Management
Refiners and petrochemical facilities are discovering new ways to reduce freshwater use and recycle the water that is used to produce fuels and petrochemicals. By recycling wastewater we can repurpose it for various uses, reinforcing our commitment to responsible resource management.
Conservation and Habitat Restoration
Fuel and petrochemical manufacturers are committed to conserving and preserving the land around their facilities and support local efforts to conserve and restore regional landscapes.
Energy Efficiency
Our industries are investing to achieve greater energy efficiency gains.
How do refiners protect air quality?
“This is our home; this is our air and our water. We want to be good stewards of the area to ensure that the air here is just as good as everywhere else. We have hundreds of sensors across the refinery, both within the fence line and on the fence line. The amazing thing about our sensor network is that it can pick up tiny amounts of emissions that come from our hydrocarbons so we can catch a problem before it becomes a problem. We’re here for the long run, so we’re going to do it right.”
— Shannon Olson, Environmental Director, Pine Bend Refinery
