Waste management

Our first waste management priority is to minimize its generation, then to reuse or recycle it wherever possible. In 2011, ExxonMobil and its wholly owned subsidiary SeaRiver Maritime sold the S/R Wilmington to a U.S. ship-recycling facility for dismantling that will maximize material recovery and ensure the proper handling and disposal of materials. The watchdog organization Basel Action Network lauded our action to recycle the Wilmington.

In 2011, we disposed of 1.9 million metric tons of hazardous waste from our ongoing operations. Of this amount, 1.7 million metric tons was produced water, which is classified as a hazardous waste by only one local authority. Excluding produced water brought to the surface during oil and gas production, we reused or recycled about 50 percent of the hazardous waste generated by our operations. Where appropriate, produced water may be re-injected using deep disposal wells or discharged offshore after having first been treated to remove residual oil. Our Tulare, California, facility is building a system to filter and soften produced water for reuse as feed water to a steam generator. Much of our reported hazardous waste from remediation activities is actually recovered soil and materials. In 2011, these remediation activities generated approximately 1.3 million metric tons of hazardous waste.