SusChem Switzerland welcomes VIO Chemicals

SusChem Switzerland, SusChem’s Swiss National Technology Platform (NTP), has recently welcomed a new member: VIO Chemicals. As a member of the NTP, VIO Chemicals joins major players in the Swiss Chemical and Life Sciences sector, including INEOS, Lonza, CimArk, ETH Zurich and the Swiss Chemical Society (SCS).

In joining SusChem Switzerland, VIO Chemicals aspires to promote the national chemical industry’s priorities in the European policy agenda, become an integrated member of a European collaborative network of knowledge and competence, and contribute to a dynamic innovation and industrial eco-system as part of the Europe 2020 strategy for an inclusive European economy.

Welcoming VIO Chemicals, Eric Plan, Secretary-General of SusChem Switzerland said:

“SusChem Switzerland is aimed at companies involved in life sciences, particularly chemistry, who want to improve their industrial processes and/or develop their collaboration with other players. With VIO Chemicals, we are happy to welcome a new SME in the SusChem family. The active participation of VIO Chemicals will reinforce our activities and missions in 'Shaping Sustainable Solutions Together'”

VIO Chemicals shares SusChem Switzerland’s vision for a robust and sustainable Swiss chemical industry. According to a recent analysis chemical, pharmaceutical and biotech sectors account for 41% of total national exports. The Swiss growth strategy is largely driven by an emphasis on constant innovation and internationalism. By joining SusChem Switzerland, VIO Chemicals declares its openness to share its expertise and form synergies with national and European stakeholders to promote the use of sustainable chemistry, and joins the debate about the role of the chemical industry as a solutions provider to global societal challenges.

For more information on SusChem Switzerland, please visit the SusChem Switzerland website.

Meet SusChem Switzerland at Ecochem

The Ecochem Exhibition and Conference on Smart and Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering is taking place on 19 – 21 November in Basel, Switzerland and will feature an all-day SusChem session. In addition the various conference streams will include presentations from many SusChem personalities.

Watch Greet Van Eetvelde of INEOS and Chairperson of the SusChem Switzerland National technology Platform talk about this important conference.



SusChem sessions
The SusChem technical session will take place on the first day of Ecochem (Tuesday 19 November) after a plenary opening session with Hubert Mandery, Director-General of Cefic.

SusChem coordinator Jacques Komornicki will open the special day-long session that will include contributions on the two SusChem inspired public private partnership initiatives: SPIRE (from Pádraig Naughton of Cefic) and the Biobased Industries JTI (from Ulrich Kettling of Clariant).

Many other streams across the three-day event will be of interest to SusChem stakeholders including sessions on ‘bio-based chemicals’, ‘clean synthesis and process intensification’, ‘industrial biotechnology’, ‘opportunities and challenges in sustainable chemistry’ and ‘financing sustainable chemistry’ amongst many others.

Eight streams
In total eight session streams are available during each day of Ecochem of which five (including the SusChem session) are free to register for. The other three streams comprise a comprehensive Strategy Summit on Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering that requires separate registration.

For more details on Ecochem visit the event website or download the Event brochure. Details on registration for the event can be found here.

SusChem at Ecochem

The Ecochem Exhibition and Conference on Smart and Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering taking place on 19 – 21 November in Basel, Switzerland will feature an all-day SusChem session. In addition the various conference streams will include presentations from many SusChem personalities.

The SusChem technical session will take place on the first day of Ecochem (Tuesday 19 November) after a plenary opening session by Hubert Mandery, Director-General of Cefic.

SusChem coordinator Jacques Komornicki will open the special day-long session that will include contributions on the two SusChem inspired public private partnership initiatives SPIRE (from Pádraig Naughton of Cefic) and BRIDGE (from Ulrich Kettling of Clariant).

Many other streams across the three-day event will be of interest to SusChem stakeholders including sessions on ‘bio-based chemicals’, ‘clean synthesis and process intensification’, ‘industrial biotechnology’, ‘opportunities and challenges in sustainable chemistry’ and ‘financing sustainable chemistry’ amongst many others.

Eight streams
In total eight session streams are available during each day of Ecochem of which five (including the SusChem session) are free to register for. The other three streams comprise a comprehensive Strategy Summit on Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering that requires separate registration.

For more details on Ecochem visit the event website or download the Event brochure. Details on registration for the event can be found here.

Swiss SusChem seeks Stakeholders

During the SusChem Brokerage event on 18 September a proposal for a SusChem Switzerland National Technology Platform (NTP) was launched. The important role for National Technology Platforms was highlighted by Ger Spork from the SusChem secretariat in his introduction, in light of the new Framework programme Horizon 2020, where alignment of National and EU priority areas will be of increasing importance.

Greet van Eetvelde of Ineos spoke about the idea with support from Paul Dyson and Francois Marechal of the Ecole Federale Polytechnique de Lausanne (EPFL) and called for participation from interested parties.

A particular focus of the Swiss NTP will be on three 'C's': chemistry, carbon and clean. Safe sustainable methods of energy production and use are research priorities together with chemical methods for CO2 abatement and use as feedstock.

The initial supporters of the concept had been looking for a platform model that involved both industry and academia with synergy at the EU level - and they found SusChem had similar context and priorities and offered established links into pan-European networks and programmes. A ready-made solution!

To find out more about the nascent Swiss NTP contact via SusChem secretariat.