Stickings calls for sustainable development

The road to sustainability is the only route open to the chemical industry for the future and one that offers real benefits for companies, employees, customers, society and the environment.

This is the view of Barry Stickings, expressed in his final speech as president of the Chemical Industries Association at the CIA dinner before handing over to Tony Bastock.

Stickings said he thought the growth of public interest in sustainable development represented a real opportunity for the chemical industry to show that it is part of the solution rather than part of the problem, as it is often portrayed.

'One of our challenges as an industry is to ensure that there is the right balance among economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development. Without this balance, and particularly if only one aspect is considered, the whole framework becomes distorted,' he said.

A case in point is EU chemicals policy currently under discussion in Brussels. 'While agreeing with the overall aims of the policy, we believe that the white paper concentrates almost exclusively on the perceived health and environmental hazards of chemicals, without due regard for the social or economic or environmental benefits that they make,' he declared. 'We need especially to proclaim the importance of economic sustainability.'