The role of solvents in achieving the European green deal

Mid-January 2021, the European Solvents Industry Group (ESIG), a sector group of Petrochemicals Europe (Cefic), held its first Stakeholder Day, which is part of a series of events on “Solvents & the European Green Deal”. It focused on the sustainability and circular Economy aspects.

Paola Migliorini, Deputy Head of Unit at DG Environment (responsible for sustainable production, products & consumption) was invited to set the scene. She provided an overview of ongoing European Commission’s initiatives that aim at making products sustainable. She explained how the European policy will make “sustainable products the norm not the exception”, which will enable the creation of a circular economy. Rob Oades, ESIG Chairman, gave an overview of the activities the sector group is carrying out in order to contribute to a circular economy for instance the collection of product environmental footprint (PEF) compliant data sets for the solvents manufacturing step. “Solvents are playing a key role in making products that are more durable, stronger and energy efficient.”, he said.

During the panel discussion, representatives from several downstream users’ associations (paints, printing inks, construction chemicals and the cleaning sector) explained how their sector contribute to sustainability. They all agreed that solvents are used to achieve certain properties and/or functions that are key to delivering the sustainability of their products.

You can watch the full webinar HERE.