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EU project REACT to convert industrial CO₂ into ethylene
The EU-funded research project “REACT” aims to convert industrial CO₂ emissions into ethylene, a key platform chemical currently produced almost exclusively from fossil feedstocks. A consortium of 13 partners, including Empa, will develop a fully functional electrolysis system to close the carbon cycle and support climate-neutral chemical production.
Ethylene is one of the most important industrial platform chemicals, with global production exceeding 300 million tonnes per year. It serves as a precursor for a wide range of products, from plastics to pharmaceuticals. However, more than 95 % of ethylene is currently produced via steam cracking of fossil feedstocks, generating around 260 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually. The EU-funded project “REACT” (Renewable Electrochemical Advanced Conversion of CO₂ to Target products) aims to transform this carbon-intensive sector by providing a renewable alternative that converts industrial emissions into valuable resources.
At the heart of the project is the recycling of CO₂ from hard-to-abate industries such as steel, cement and chemicals. Using a novel, impurity-tolerant electrochemical tandem process, “REACT” is designed to convert low-purity industrial CO₂ streams directly into valuable chemical products, significantly reducing the need for costly pre-treatment. Powered by renewable energy, the process is intended to turn previously unavoidable CO₂ emissions into a feedstock for next-generation chemicals and materials.
Scaling up CO₂ electrolysis
“We have been working on CO₂ electrolysis at laboratory scale for several years now,” says Corsin Battaglia, head of Empa’s “Materials for Energy Conversion” laboratory. The aim of the “REACT” project is to develop a functional prototype electrolyser for the conversion of CO₂ into ethylene, significantly increasing the technological readiness level. Battaglia’s team will investigate how impurities in industrial CO₂ off-gases affect the efficacy and lifetime of the catalyst used in the electrolyser. To this end, the team will draw on the parallel reactor for CO₂ electrolysis developed at Empa, an automated system that enables up to 10 experiments to be run simultaneously.
The project also integrates innovative materials, advanced monitoring systems and digital twin technologies to improve efficiency, durability, scalability and economic viability. Beyond ethylene, the insights gained are expected to advance other CO₂ conversion technologies, including the production of synthetic fuels.
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About “REACT”
“REACT” is a Horizon Europe project running for 48 months, from May 2026 to April 2030. It covers the entire value chain, from scientific institutions to raw material suppliers and polymer manufacturers for the packaging industry. The consortium is coordinated by SINTEF (Norway) and comprises 13 partners from 10 countries, including VITO (Belgium), Johnson Matthey PLC (United Kingdom), eChemicles (Hungary), Procter & Gamble Services Company NV (Belgium), IDENER (Spain), Norner Research AS (Norway), Empa (Switzerland), K1-MET GmbH (Austria), FARPLAS (Turkey), Johnson Matthey Davy Technologies Ltd (United Kingdom), Holoss (Portugal) and ETA-Florence Renewable Energies (Italy).
Source: Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (2025). Press release on the EU-funded project “REACT”.
