Communication & Collaboration

Ton Manders retires after 38 successful years in chlor-alkali

Ton joined Euro Chlor in 2016 as Technical and Safety Director, coming directly from AkzoNobel Industrial Chemicals (now Nobian) in the Netherlands, where he had been responsible for Technology, Research and Development in the chlorine and chloromethane business since 2005. During that period, he became well-acquainted with Euro Chlor as an active member of the General Technical Committee (GTC) and Transport (GEST) Working Group.

He has been Euro Chlor’s technical expert for the last eight years and, upon joining, threw himself into detailed data gathering and analysis, safety trainings, the writing and updating of technical and background documents and much more.

All of the colleagues that worked with him will never forget Ton. He was the ‘go-to-person’ for technical questions and never failed to either have the answer immediately, to find it in two hours via his extended network of past and current colleagues, or to provide it in two days after an extensive search (and one or more Excel sheets performing complex calculations!).

Proof of the overall appreciation for Ton is that he was not only the ‘go-to-person’ for the technical, but also for organisational, strategic and personal issues. He never once told anyone he did not have time for them.

The good news is that he has not gone too far and we still invite Ton for some meetings and, as friends, the occasional drink organised in Brussels.

Grateful for everything he has done for and meant to us, we can only say we will greatly miss a valued colleague and friend, but we all wish him the very best in this new exciting chapter of his life!

Two new colleagues joined the team

Thomas Vanfleteren joined Euro Chlor as Technical and Safety Manager in February 2024, succeeding Ton Manders. He was previously Technical Manager at Petrochemicals Europe within Cefic for the past four years. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and has experience in scientific consultancy. He now leads the GTC, GEST and Equipment Working Groups.

A month later in March, Eili Skrivervik joined Euro Chlor as Energy and Hydrogen Manager, succeeding Kristof May, who left Cefic to pursue a new, exciting career opportunity. Prior to Cefic, Eili was at the University of Oslo and École des Mines de Paris, working towards a Ph.D. in innovation and the energy transition. She is now the key point of contact on all energy and hydrogen regulatory matters and leads Euro Chlor’s Energy and Climate Change Committee.

New Management Committee members and regular collaboration meetings

Over the past year, Euro Chlor’s Management Committee welcomed seven new members to their ranks. Domenico Greco (Società Chimica Bussi), Markus Mingenbach (Nobian) and Jakub Racek (Spolchemie) joined in September 2023. In early 2024, Jan Hesterkamp joined from VESTOLIT, Charley Liere from KEM ONE, Jan Nouwen from BASF and Charlotte Röber from ECVM. For a complete list of Management Committee members, click here.

Continued connection with our downstream stakeholders

This past year, we continued to strengthen our connections with downstream stakeholders, notably through various meetings with the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers (ECVM) and the European Diisocyanate & Polyol Producers Association (ISOPA), and through our new benefits campaign.

Launching a communications campaign on benefits of chlor-alkali products to society

In October 2023, Euro Chlor launched a communications campaign to highlight the benefits of products in the chlor-alkali value chain. Over a period of one year, one video is released per month, often aligning with seasonal events or official thematic days.

Our flashy videos demonstrate the diverse applications of chlor-alkali, showing our products’ uses in sunglasses and solar panels, buildings and chocolate, protective vests and helmets and more! The campaign runs until the end of 2024 and can be viewed here.

With strategic advice from the Euro Chlor Communications Committee, related content is carried on all Euro Chlor social media channels (LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube). This supplements content from other Euro Chlor communications materials such as ChlorineThings and Mr C videos, the 17 Successes and 17 Careers programmes, the trees for chlorine, caustic soda, caustic potash and hydrogen. All of this builds on the “Uses” section of our website here.

New Information Sheets and Science Dossiers

To bolster the benefits campaign and provide even more science-informed content, Euro Chlor published new information sheets covering topics such as electronics and energy, health, electrolysis and production costs, polycarbonate, and polyurethane.

Additionally, the “Focus on Chlorine Science (FOCs)” dossiers on chlorinated swimming pools and respiratory health and hydrogen were revised and republished. An information sheet detailing installed hydrogen production capacities was also released. All these publications are available here.

Four new 17 Chlor-Alkali Careers videos

Inspired by chlorine’s position on the Periodic Table of elements, Euro Chlor’s 17 Chlor-Alkali Careers programme presents real Europeans whose work contributes to the production of chlor-alkali chemicals.

Over the past year, Euro Chlor has released four new videos here. These feature Klaus from Nobian, Daniel from Bondalti, Bart from Nobian and Roman from Spolchemie. This brings the total to 11, with more in the pipeline.

Optimising our website and presence on social media

The Euro Chlor team constantly updates the website with latest information including technical documents, news items, videos and more! Over the past year, we have seen an increase in traffic for the website (94% growth in sessions and 139% growth in users).

As mentioned before, the benefits campaign is linked to an enhanced presence on social media. Here, our follower counts steadily increased with LinkedIn being the most popular platform.

Launching the 12th International Chlor-Alkali Technology Conference and Exhibition

The next International Chlor-Alkali Technology Conference & Exhibition will take place on 13-15 May 2025 in Barcelona. A call for exhibitors and presentations was sent out in May 2024, and audience registration opens in September 2024.

The triennial conference features a variety of technical sessions and a comprehensive exhibition and offers unique networking opportunities. Not only can member companies meet with chlor-alkali and hydrogen technology suppliers, but they will also hear from industry experts on innovative technologies, developments in production and process safety, progress in the area of hydrogen (NEW!), and regulatory developments.

More information and registration details are available here.

Assuming the World Chlorine Council Secretariat for two years

In January 2024, Euro Chlor took over the management of the World Chlorine Council (WCC). WCC assembles chlor-alkali associations from Canada, China, Europe, India, Japan, Latin America, North America, and South Korea. The aim of the group is to be a global forum that promotes health, safety, and environmental best practices related to chlorine production and highlights the benefits of chlor-alkali chemistry.

Several WCC events have already taken place in 2024, including a webinar on PFAS for WCC members. A WCC virtual meeting has also covered the updates from the three main global teams, dealing with safety, advocacy and science, and communications, respectively. Euro Chlor members are encouraged to learn from WCC events at their own convenience with more information being available here.

The next event will be the WCC Annual meeting scheduled for 15-17 October 2024 in Spain, which will feature a site visit, networking opportunities and two brief online briefing sessions on key topics for all association memberships.

Supporting the Cefic Antwerp Declaration

Through Cefic, Euro Chlor is supporting the Antwerp Declaration signed in February 2024 with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. Approximately 73 business leaders from across industry expressed their commitment to the EU Green Deal and asked to make European industry competitive, resilient and sustainable again with a 10-point plan known as the Industrial Deal. Numerous additional CEOs and related associations have since endorsed this Declaration for the next European Commission and several official instances have picked up the messages.

For more information, click here.