Brussels, 17th January 2019 - Peter Smith, Cefic Executive Director Product Stewardship, retired from Cefic at the end of last year. Before leaving, Peter shared his thoughts with us about his stint at Cefic, and how he envisages the future of the European chemical industry.What were the top three achievements during your time at the head of the Cefic Product Stewardship programme?  The main focus of the Product Stewardship programme in recent years has been on the successful implementation of EU regulations affecting industrial chemicals.  This mainly concerns REACH and CLP (Classification, Labelling & Packaging Regulation). The successful implementation of these two EU anchor chemicals regulations is very much an ongoing (and everyday) process.   Therefore, the three main achievements relate to chemicals regulation implementation. The two REACH Reviews in 2013 and 2018 bear testimony to our work.  Both reviews indicated that there is no need to revise REACH. I consider this to be a direct reflection of the contribution made by the chemical industry to demonstrate that REACH can work.  This was exactly what we wanted to achieve.  Very much related to the positive outcomes from the two REACH Reviews was the successful completion of the last two REACH Registration deadlines for existing chemicals (so called “phase in substances”).  The chemical industry has done a great job to complete the registrations in time and to ensure that there has been no disruption to supply chains.  Most recently, I have been very pleased with the joint statement we have agreed with ECHA.  There is much to do to achieve the goals laid out in the statement.  The statement highlights how important it will be on an ongoing basis to maintain – and in some cases improve – the quality of the registration dossiers;  to keep the dossiers current and up-to-date;  and also to engage early in discussions with ECHA concerning substances for which the assessment of the safety data may take longer than normal, thereby ensuring a smooth evaluation process and conclusions that are understandable to all stakeholders. You’ve been with Cefic for quite a while. How has the perception of the chemical industry changed during that time, if at all? The chemical industry is under ever increasing scrutiny by authorities and civil society – not just in Europe, but worldwide. And this tends to give the impression of an industry that is not acting as it should.  So perceptually, I don’t see that the industry gets as fair a deal as it should.  And in this respect, I don’t see much change over the past few years.  The reality, I believe, is far from this perception.  The European chemical industry holds itself to high standards.  The monumental effort to comply with legislation such as REACH is further evidence that the industry is committed to do the right thing to ensure the safe use of chemicals.  However, it goes beyond the requirements of the regulations to include a further commitment to continuously improve the safe use of chemicals as part of the Responsible Care programme. How do you see the future of the European chemical industry? The most significant impact on the European chemical industry will be circularity.  The need for greatly improved resource efficiency will only intensify as the global demand for manufactured goods increases with an ever-expanding population and accompanying affluence/urbanisation. The transition to a more circular economy is a way to better utilise the products of industrial scale chemistry by finding ways of extending the lifetime of manufactured goods and then reusing those spent products to make new things.  This will be a more sustainable approach than starting from virgin source raw materials all the time and disposing of the spent goods as waste.  Although the real growth in the use of chemicals will derive from non-European markets, the European chemical industry can (and should) play a major role in establishing the feasibility of a circular economy (in chemicals).  This will require close cooperation between industry and authorities to enable the transition and considerable innovation from industry. Sylvie Lemoine will be taking your place as executive director. Is there a message you’d like to give her? I am very pleased that Sylvie Lemoine will be replacing me in Cefic.  I have known Sylvie throughout my time with Cefic, where I have found her to be a very valuable member of our network.  And I am sure that her expertise in the chemical industry as well as with the European Detergents Association (AISE) will prepare her extremely well for the challenges that lie ahead.  In the first instance, she is fortunate to have a very strong team in place to assist her.  So the key message I would give her is to listen and learn from the members of the Cefic Product Stewardship department.