Environment

The ORLEN Group is aware of the objectives and challenges associated with the impact of its operations on climate change. It strives to develop its business based on innovative low-carbon technologies and products, in accordance with the principles of circular economy.

We pursue this objective by investing in best available techniques (BAT) in environmental protection and minimising the environmental footprint of our production, storage and distribution processes.

Since 1999, PKN ORLEN has been involved in efforts to restore the peregrine falcon population in Poland, in partnership with the ‘SOKÓŁ’ (‘FALCON’) Wildlife Protection Association. This predatory bird is listed in the Polish Red List of Threatened Species as CR (critically endangered) species. The first hatch of peregrine falcon chicks was documented in May 2002. By the end of 2021, over a period of 19 years, peregrine falcons already hatched 54 chicks and fostered 4 in the nesting box on the FGD stack at PKN ORLEN’s production plant in Płock. Ornithologists working with the Company point out that the great effort of many companies, institutions and individuals led to the restoration of the peregrine falcon species in Poland.

In 2021, PKN ORLEN in cooperation with its project partner – the Warsaw Province Agricultural Advisory Centre in Płock, launched a project to restore the population of Kampinos Forest bee. ORLEN recognises the problem of disappearance of bees and actively engages in their protection. The Company’s employees are involved in a project aimed at educating residents of Płock and the surrounding rural areas about the importance of bees for humans, and at introducing new bee colonies to enrich the natural environment. To this end, apiaries have been set up in the vicinity of the PKN ORLEN production plant in Płock, where bees are bred. Since 2021, they have included the Kampinos Forest bee threatened with extinction in Poland. It is a Central European breed line. The species has been included in the Genetic Resources Conservation Programme since the 1970s. Płock is one of only three places in Poland where a conservation colony is being established. The initiative was made possible by our cooperation with the Zootechnical Institute of Balice near Kraków and the Breeding Apiary in Parzniew, which are responsible for the Genetic Resources Conservation Programme, Beekeeping equipment was purchased as part of the project, and an apiary workshop was set up in the MODR building in Płock.

In 2020, the first flower meadow (750 m2) was sown on the premises of the ORLEN service station at 7 Chemików Street in Płock. In May 2021, this initiative was continued: another meadow (150 m2) was planted in cooperation with the Meadow Foundation on the premises of the Primary School in Maszewo Duże near Płock, thus supporting biodiversity. Also in May 2021, a Sow a Meadow with Us! campaign for ORLEN Group employees was implemented on the premises of the Płock production plant (Długa Street), with an accompanying workshop conducted by the Meadow Foundation. The participants learned why meadows should replace lawns, where to sow meadows and how to prepare the land, and what plants to choose to start a meadow. Then the participants proceeded to sowing a meadow (1,350 m2). Finally, every participant received a packet of seeds as an encouragement to use the knowledge gained at the workshop and plant a meadow in their neighbourhood. The Sow a Meadow with Us! campaign and further meadow projects were conducted as part of a larger initiative Blooming Service Station, carried out by the Meadow Foundation and financed by the ORLEN Foundation, with the support of the Environmental Protection Office of PKN ORLEN.

Other ORLEN Group companies, including the Energa Group, ANWIL and ORLEN Unipetrol, also engage in numerous environmental initiatives, including fish stocking of rivers, cleaning of waterfront areas, setting up apiaries on the premises of production plants, and protecting peregrine falcons. From September to November 2021, the ORLEN Foundation ran the Energy Planet programme, a continuation of an educational project launched in 2010 by Energa S.A. to promote pro-environmental attitudes among the participants. The programme was organised in the form of a mobile learning zone, which visited 50 towns in Poland and was attended by over 30,000 people.

For more information on the environmental protection efforts of the ORLEN Group, see `Biodiversity protection` .