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IRPC Rewind: Executing carbon capture and utilization at scale: Challenges and opportunities

At this year’s International Refining and Petrochemical Conference (IRPC), Kevin Norfleet, Global Sustainability Director at Celanese, delivered a keynote that pulled the audience directly into the future of industrial sustainability. His talk, titled “Executing Carbon Capture and Utilization at Scale: Challenges and Opportunities,” painted a candid picture of both the promise and the realities of carbon capture utilization (CCU).

Norfleet opened by grounding the audience in who Celanese is—a Dallas-based chemical company with around $10 billion in annual sales. Half of the company operates in specialty plastics, while the other half drives a powerful acetyl chain chemicals business. At the core of both lies a critical feedstock—methanol.

Celanese is one of the world’s largest non-fuel users of methanol, employing it to create polymers and a wide variety of downstream chemicals. That dependence made the company a natural candidate for exploring CCU as a pathway to sustainable methanol production.

The Fairway Methanol Project. The centerpiece of Norfleet’s story was the Fairway Methanol joint venture with Mitsui, located in Clear Lake, Texas. The facility now captures 180,000 tpy of industrial carbon dioxide (CO₂), converting it into 130,000 tons of methanol.

Unlike sequestration projects that bury CO₂, this effort puts carbon to work—turning waste streams into feedstock for valuable products. More than 80% of the CO₂ comes from third-party sources, while the remainder comes from Celanese’s other operations. High-concentration CO₂ streams made the project economical, allowing Celanese to leap ahead of peers in building one of the first large-scale CCU plants in the U.S.

Methanol is just the beginning. Celanese takes CCU-based methanol and transforms it into a wide range of derivative chemicals—acetic acid, vinyl acetate, ethyl acetate, and more—marketed under the EcoCC brand.

Where sustainability messaging often struggles in deep supply chains, Celanese has found traction with consumer-adjacent industries. Partnerships include:

  • Henkel (adhesives)
  • Cloverdale, Dunn-Edwards, and Valmet (architectural coatings)
  • Denley Mills (carpet tiles).

As Norfleet described, “It’s about telling a story that people can see—products made from CO₂.”

CHALLENGES OF CCU AT SCALE

Mass balance is essential. The chemical industry cannot segregate sustainable and conventional molecules at scale. Mass balance accounting—tracking sustainability attributes through a shared system—is the only practical way forward. Celanese advocates strongly for its adoption across industries.

CCU introduces complexities:

  • Volatile supply: CO₂, as a waste stream, can abruptly stop flowing
  • Impurities: CO₂ waste carries unexpected contaminants
  • Plants must be flexible and resilient to cope with these irregularities.

Market recognition. Perhaps the toughest barrier is certification. Under ISCC Plus, CCU methanol is not recognized as circular content. Unlike other recycling or bio-based routes, CO₂-derived products cannot yet carry a “recycled” label, even though they clearly give waste carbon a second life. This puts CCU at a commercial disadvantage.

For Norfleet, the lesson is clear: start now, don’t wait for perfect conditions. Using green H2 today would have made the project economically impossible. Instead, Celanese chose a pragmatic path—building the infrastructure, creating a market, and preparing for greener inputs when they become viable.

Customer motivations vary—some want clear recycled-content claims, others seek to reduce corporate Scope 3 emissions. Celanese positions EcoCC solutions to meet both needs.

Ultimately, Norfleet argued that CCU must be recognized as recycling. Only then will it stand on equal footing with other sustainable pathways, giving the market freedom to choose the most cost-effective, impactful solutions.

Kevin Norfleet’s keynote underscored both the innovation and the friction points in executing CCU at scale. Celanese has proven that it can be done—capturing hundreds of thousands of tons of CO₂, turning it into valuable chemistry, and placing those products in the market.

However, policy gaps, certification challenges, and operational complexities remain. As Norfleet reminded the audience, the path forward will not be linear. “Better to do something now than wait for perfection,” he emphasized. The CCU story is still being written, but Celanese has already authored one of its boldest chapters.