Plasticisers industry joins forces to meet challenges ahead

Hundreds of international experts from well over 30 different countries gathered at the PVC 2017 triennial conference in Brighton (April 25-27) to discuss how the industry is rapidly adapting to regulatory and market pressures as well as to consumer’s demands. This was also the occasion to unveil European Plasticisers which builds on the strengths of the organisation formerly known as the European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates (ECPI) to bring more diversity and unity to the promotion of plasticisers in Europe.

Speaking at the conference, European Plasticisers’ general manager, Jean-Luc Wietor, highlighted that “this is more than just a cosmetic change. It is about adapting to the challenges ahead and shifting towards a more inclusive and comprehensive approach. Based on our extensive experience collected over more than 35 years, European Plasticisers aims to project itself towards the full recognition of plasticisers’ contribution to our everyday wellbeing”.

The association has seen a recent expansion of its membership, which currently brings together eight major European plasticiser producers representing over 80% of the market. At Brighton, European Plasticisers participated with a booth and a presentation about its new identity as well as the regulatory challenges faced by the plasticisers industry in Europe and illustrated with concrete examples and best practices how creative communications can enable audiences to understand complex scientific data.

“We want to give continuity to the good work done in the last decades and especially to the open dialogue established with a large number of stakeholders. The PVC 2017 conference in Brighton was the perfect opportunity to present our new identity which we hope will contribute to expand our already existing good reputation across and beyond the value-chain”, added Wietor.

In addition to the ongoing exchange with regulators in Brussels and at member state level, during his presentation, Jean-Luc Wietor also explained how European Plasticisers is committed to the sustainable use of plasticisers through its active participation in VinylPlus, the sustainability programme of the vinyl value chain. Moreover, European Plasticisers keeps strong ties with leading brand-holders as well as US and Asian associations. “We have aimed to be a trusted source of information on plasticisers and will continue to do so”, he concluded.