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Chlor-alkali industry heeds sustainability concerns
BRUSSELS, 9 January, 2002 - Euro Chlor Executive Director Dr Barrie S. Gilliatt states: "Some have said that chlorine chemistry can never be sustainable. We strongly disagree. Chlorine chemistry is a way of turning one substance into another that is of greater social use and value - there are many advantages and sometimes disadvantages. Our task is to negate or minimise any harm and maximise the good." Euro Chlor is currently developing methods for reporting meaningful quantitative data and setting measurable sustainability goals. As an interim step Euro Chlor's 43 producer member companies have adopted six qualitative measures to ensure a united industry commitment to addressing key sustainability concerns:
Dr Gilliatt says: "We believe a better understanding of the sector and a continuing improvement in performance can be achieved through Sustainable Development. This first report shows where we are today and how much we have achieved; but environmental perceptions of the industry are often still locked in the past and see only the negative. More work has to be done to improve confidence in our industry. The path to improvement is best served by honest and open debate and we welcome constructive criticism and new ideas-all of which will be considered as we plan the way forward." The Western European chlor-alkali sector underpins 55-60% of all chemical processing, including numerous downstream uses of chlorine-based chemicals. Almost 40,000 jobs depend directly on the chlor-alkali sector and 2 million Europeans - many in small and medium sized enterprises - depend indirectly upon its products. Chlorine and its essential co-product caustic soda are vital building blocks in transforming raw materials into useful products - from cars to computers, from paints to plastics. Furthermore, it is vital to new technologies, ranging from lightweight engineering plastics used in wind turbines to silicon chips in photovoltaic cells used to trap solar power. The chlor-alkali sector contributes to society's well being and progress in various ways. For example, most of Europe's drinking water is made safe with the help of chlorine and about 85% of medicines, including many life-saving drugs, are synthesised using chlorine. Making better use of natural resources is another sustainability challenge. Chlor-alkali production is based on salt (almost inexhaustible), electricity and water. Even though the electrochemical use of electricity is intrinsically efficient, technological improvements are systematically reducing power usage (2004 forecast reduction of 35% compared with base year 1974). The sector has already been making continuous industry-wide efforts to improve health, safety and environmental performance. For example, manufacturing emissions to air and water from about 80 European chlor-alkali plants of 25 chlorinated organic substances have been reduced by 70% and 85%, respectively, since 1985. Mercury emissions from plants using the mercury-based process have been reduced by more than 96% since 1977. The brochure is available online as a pdf file: Click here Footnote to EditorsEuro Chlor. An affiliate of Cefic, Euro Chlor represents 85 industrial companies across 21 countries. The sector produces annually more than 20 million tonnes of chlorine, caustic soda and hydrogen. It underpins 55-60% of European chemical industry turnover (2000: EUR0 488,000 million). The brochure is available as a pdf file on the Internet at Chlorine Online (www.eurochlor.org).To return to news click here |