Press release

New report reveals INEOS' real impact as lawyers urge end to 'Project One'

01 April 2025

A brand new investigation by Stand.earth has uncovered alarming connections between everyday consumer brands and fracking-derived petrochemicals. Companies and brands such as Nescafé, Johnson & Johnson, Magnum, Kit Kat, and Lay's are, according to the research, implicated in supply chains that trace back to fracking operations in the Permian Basin, Texas, USA.

This report stresses the consequences of facilities like INEOS' 'Project One' – which would be Europe’s biggest creator of the chemicals used to make plastic. ClientEarth and partners have been engaged in legal actions against this project for several years, with arguments based on the environmental and climate implications of the mega-project, located in Antwerp, Belgium. Project One would release pollution that could prompt significant health impacts for local communities in Flanders – and, as the new research indicates, much further afield.

Fracked oil and gas are the basis for plastics: ‘cracked’, they make substances like ethylene, which are then used to make plastics themselves. 90% of the world’s ethylene is used to make plastic.

At a global scale, this research shows how corporate polluters continue to profit while communities bear the cost. Even though most of Europe has banned fracking within its borders, governments and companies are still looking away from the environmental degradation and human rights infringements embedded in the plastics supply chain in other parts of the world.

The findings underline climate arguments that ClientEarth and partners have been making in ongoing legal action since 2019. The environmental impact assessments completed by INEOS, and accepted by the Flanders authorities, have never adequately reflected the full supply chain impacts of fracked gas, shipping and downstream pollution.  

ClientEarth lawyer Tatiana Luján commented:​

"This report clearly exposes how INEOS's role in plastic production is driving global environmental harm. It's undeniable that their infrastructure projects, including Project One, aren't just a local concern – they are supporting fracking and pollution worldwide.  While INEOS makes strong statements about sustainability, Project One is about expanding plastic production at a time we know we are beyond saturation point.”

Luján concluded: “We already have more plastics than we need, and increasing production will only exacerbate pollution and climate change. Producing plastics is a health hazard for local communities. Flemish and Dutch families will be threatened with daily exposure to chemicals and pollutants. Generations of families in the Permian Basin area of Texas face developmental harm. This is precisely why we are committed to stopping this project: to prevent further damage to our societies and our climate, and to safeguard public health.”

Project One is financially backed by the governments of Flanders, the UK (via a £600m guarantee from UKEF), Spain and Italy.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Background on the legal challenge

ClientEarth, in collaboration with 14 other NGOs, has been actively opposing INEOS' now €4 billion plastics project, known as 'Project One', in the Port of Antwerp, Belgium. The project aims to process fossil gas to produce ethylene—a key component of plastic.​

The process of challenging this project has been convoluted. In 2020, ClientEarth won a court injunction against INEOS, with the court agreeing that the authorities hadn't properly assessed the project's environmental impacts. After a new attempt at the Environmental Impact Assessment, Flemish authorities approved a new permit for the project in 2021, prompting ClientEarth and its partners to launch a fresh legal challenge. Parallel challenges had also been brought by Dutch provinces, based on nitrogen pollution concerns: in July 2023, the Council of Permit Disputes ruled in favour of the Dutch province of  Noord-Brabant, effectively nullifying INEOS' permit, and averting the need for the full range of ClientEarth’s arguments to be heard.​

Following the court ruling, INEOS resubmitted a permit request and has now been granted approval to go ahead with the plastics project. In September 2024, ClientEarth and partners renewed their legal fight against INEOS’ project for the fourth time, by taking yet another lawsuit against the Flemish authorities’ permit. 

These ongoing legal challenges underscore the significant environmental and climate concerns associated with Project One.

INEOS in the news

Owned by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, INEOS is a petrochemicals giant – and as of recently, the owner of Manchester United football club. However, the company’s ratings have recently been downgraded to ‘negative’ – and the cost of Project One has soared from a projected €3bn to €4bn.

INEOS claims

INEOS promotes its products as essential for sustainable energy, as seen in its own materials here. While feedstocks often go unnoticed, petrochemicals are becoming the leading driver of global oil and gas demand, according to an IEA report on energy ‘blind spots’.

A company spokesperson has claimed that ‘Project One’ will produce raw materials for medical products, insulation, transport, and packaging. The UK government stated that INEOS pledged only 10% of the ethylene produced would go to single-use plastics, with the rest intended for construction materials like pipes and cable ducting. However, experts like Jeroen Dagevos, of the Plastic Soup Foundation, question how this will be enforced, pointing out the lack of controls over who buys the ethylene, raising concerns that the project will ultimately fuel the production of throwaway plastics in Europe. Meanwhile, INEOS continues to push narratives like, “Are plastics really the root of all ecological evil?” –downplaying the devastating environmental impact of its plastic production while fuelling a crisis of pollution and waste.

Key findings of the report

  • Direct pipeline from Texas fracking to global plastic packaging. The Permian Basin — already the world’s largest source of oil and gas pollution and home to some of the worst air quality in the U.S. — now supplies a significant portion of petrochemical feedstocks used in global plastic production, underscoring plastics’ role as a key driver of the climate crisis.
  • Hidden role of major companies. A small group of traders and exporters moves ethane from U.S. fracking wells to petrochemical plants in Europe and Asia, fueling the production of plastic packaging. Supply chains running through just three companies — INEOS, Reliance Industries, and Dow — connect to more than 25 major consumer brands. Without supply chain transparency, major players will continue to profit while communities bear the consequences.
  • 25+ global brands are fuelling the fracked plastics crisis. Major consumer brands, including Coca-Cola and Nestlé, are using fracked petrochemicals for their single-use plastic packaging, driving continued fossil fuel extraction and expansion
About ClientEarth

ClientEarth is a non-profit organisation that uses the law to create systemic change that protects the Earth for – and with – its inhabitants. We are tackling climate change, protecting nature and stopping pollution, with partners and citizens around the globe. We hold industry and governments to account, and defend everyone’s right to a healthy world. From our offices in Europe, Asia and the USA we shape, implement and enforce the law, to build a future for our planet in which people and nature can thrive together.