Euro Chlor celebrates 30th anniversary at Annual General Meeting

Euro Chlor, the European association of chlor-alkali manufacturers, celebrated its 30th anniversary with a recap of the past and a look into the future at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday 13th September 2019 in Brussels, Belgium. In his Report, Chairman Jürgen Baune explained that the current EU-wide Euro Chlor’s success lies in its original goal to provide balanced, science-based information on chlorine and its co-products, developed by active members and a skilled Secretariat. On many occasions, Euro Chlor has been praised by authorities for being a transparent and trusted partner. Read more about Euro Chlor’s rich 30-year history at https://www.eurochlor.org/about-us/history, as well as the key highlights from the past year in the just launched Chlor-alkali Industry Review 2018-2019.

Looking forward with optimism for our industry

In addition to being an essential building block for numerous products that people rely on every day, chlor-alkali can play a key role in Europe’s more sustainable future and contribute to many of the United Nation's global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Inspired by the recently launched Cefic Mid-Century Vision for the chemical industry, Euro Chlor is now developing its own “Mid-Century Strategy for a Sustainable Chlor-Alkali Industry” to define what the industry should look like in the coming years. At the AGM, Euro Chlor’s Executive Director Marleen Pauwels and Technical & Safety Director Ton Manders gave a first flavour of this strategy set to be launched later this year. The Euro Chlor strategy will be based on the Cefic Vision but focus more on the specifics for the chlor-alkali industry and insights from our members and external stakeholders. A consultant has already carried out interviews and is investigating the trends and future scenarios to identify potential strategic moves and (new) roles for Euro Chlor.

Overview of themes to be covered by Euro Chlor strategy

Euro Chlor’s strategy will cover the six themes in the diagram. Safety seems so far to be the most important cornerstone for Euro Chlor with the chlor-alkali industry continuing to aim for zero incidents. Energy too remains a key theme with Euro Chlor contributing to a ‘carbon-neutral’ future and advocating for a level playing field. As a potentially important future energy carrier, Euro Chlor is also evaluating how to add value to hydrogen. And how and to which extent should Euro Chlor play a role in the circular economy is another theme under investigation. An insight into the circular economy was given at the AGM by guest speaker Zdenek Hruska, Public Affairs Director of VinylPlus©, the European PVC industry’s voluntary commitment to sustainable development.

Euro Chlor also plans to continue to increase awareness using science and education on the contribution of chlor-alkali end products to people and society – building on the recent 17 Successes programme  – to encourage employment in the sector.

This will strengthen Euro Chlor’s commitment to creating a better world and continuing to support a safe, sustainable and successful chlor-alkali industry for Europe. For more information, contact Catherine Birkner, Euro Chlor Communications Manager at cab [at] cefic.be.

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