Building on two reliable 10-year Sustainability Programmes…

The publication of Euro Chlor’s second Sustainability Report is a celebration of 20 years of extensive efforts in data collection around three sustainability pillars (environmental, social, and economic) in two consecutive 10-year Sustainability Programmes. It also features the launch of the new third programme which involves no fewer than nine new Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These are based on the content of our Mid-Century Strategy for a Sustainable Chlor-Alkali Industry to ensure that a safe, competitive, climate neutral and circular European chlor-alkali industry will be here for the benefit of Europe in 2050. Since the launch of the strategy in 2020, our Committees and Working Groups have incorporated existing sustainability indicators from our first and second Sustainability Programmes into our four Mid-Century Strategy priorities and developed and documented the nine new KPIs.

Reflecting on the past year, I realise how hard the Euro Chlor team and members have worked to increase incident reporting (now up to 80%), organise safety trainings, develop a modern interactive safety game, draft guidance for emergency departments in case of chlorine intoxication, and develop some relevant new communication material (for example 17 Careers videos, ‘trees’ on our substances and a hydrogen infographic).

What’s more, our sector has been tackling the ongoing COVID-19 challenges whilst gearing up for the items related to the EU’s Green Deal, most notably the flagship initiatives of the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) and the ‘Fit for 55’ initiative. We have the right tools to enable our industry to adapt to everything that lies ahead, including the activities of our Committees and Working Groups, our value chain partnerships and our membership of the Halogens Industry Sector, Cefic and the World Chlorine Council.

Given all this, Euro Chlor rises to the challenge to combine its third Sustainability programme with a Mid-Century Strategy at such a pivotal moment in the EU’s legislative history.

…and looking forward 10 years to 2030

As Marleen noted, the Euro Chlor Management Committee is ready to accept the challenge of completing the third phase of our Sustainability Programme in the current regulatory environment. We have always focused on topics that contribute to addressing the global challenges of climate change and environmental degradation and have gathered a comprehensive data set as a solid basis for our actions and messages. Our foreseen monitoring of energy consumption, carbon footprint and waste reduction will further assist in helping to meet Europe’s Green Deal priorities.

Equally important is that we never lose sight of our safety priorities. I have personally engaged in initiating the ‘Safe Loading and Unloading’ commitment that has now been generally adopted by the membership. Safety should not end at the gate of our plants and I count on my fellow members and the Euro Chlor team to assist me in getting this commitment implemented by as many companies as possible.

In addition, we will start measuring transportation incidents for all our products, production capacity serving as grid balancing and the carbon footprint of our production. All these parameters are vital to our role within our Mid-Century Strategy as a Safety Leader and Climate Neutral Player.

Speaking of climate neutral, Euro Chlor will actively engage in the debate around hydrogen. We will not only focus on using 100% of our hydrogen by-product by 2030 but also embark on a campaign to make authorities aware of the fact that our hydrogen is low-carbon and high quality. We may only represent about 4% of the total hydrogen production in the EU, but we have the technology readily available, and our by-product should be valorised.

With all the above, I look forward to another year of intensive collaboration with the entire membership and the Euro Chlor team.