Caroline Ciuciu reimagines the future

April 2021 and available on EPCA’s Resource Library. Markets for sustainable chemicals are emerging but transformation will require massive investments, and a build-up of new capabilities and technologies. Chemical companies that lead such transformation will emerge as winners in an industry that in balance will benefit from the discontinuities ahead, BCG says.

The second day will finish with a conversation between Karin Helmstaedt and Katja Wodjereck, commercial director, EMEAI industrial solutions, at Dow Chemical.

PEOPLE POWER The final day on 7 October will look further ahead and reimagine the future of the European petrochemical industry. An important element within that future will be access to new talent and it is no accident that the day will open with a conversation with Gina Fyffe, CEO of Integra Petrochemicals and chair of EPCA’s Talents of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow Committee. That will be followed by a curtain-raiser interview with Jim Fitterling, chairman/CEO of Dow Chemical, who will discuss what will count as success in the medium to long term, responsible stakeholder capitalism, inclusive business strategies, workforce and future leaders as well as corporate and individual leadership.

Fitterling’s comments will feed into another CEO Forum, featuring Emmanuel Faber, former chair and CEO of Danone, Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of the Port of Antwerp, and Jean-Marc Durand, senior vice-president, refining base chemicals Europe, at Total Energies. Jan Arnet, Group CEO of Bertschi will also give his views on inclusive business strategies and the importance of developing future leaders.

Personnel development will need to take onboard issues around diversity and inclusion and a roundtable session will discuss the latest progress within the EPCA community. It will feature Jeanne-Marie Bowman, vice-president and Chief Talent & DEI Officer at LyondellBasell, Chantal Lorbeer, associate partner at McKinsey’s Munich office, Ingjerd Morland Nettestad, vice-president of corporate HR at Odfjell, and Hernan Rein, global director human resources at Vopak.

EPCA’s 55th Annual Meeting will conclude with a wrap-up conversation with Hartwig Michels, EPCA president and president of BASF, followed once more by a virtual happy hour.

Full details of the programme and registration process can be found on the EPCA website, www.epca.eu. HCB will be there in virtual form too and will report back on all the discussions in a forthcoming issue.

REGROUP, REFLECT

EPCA HAS SPENT THE LAST YEAR REIMAGINING HOW IT WILL WORK IN THE FUTURE. CEO CAROLINE CIUCIU EXPLAINS HER PLANS AND WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS YEAR’S ANNUAL MEETING

The European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) has, like its members, been faced with some challenging times over the past 18 months. Its raison d’être is to bring together players from across the petrochemical supply chain and to help them navigate the changing business landscape as well as reflect on and embrace new trends in science, technology and society. This can most effectively be done through in-person events, most notably – but not solely – the EPCA Annual Meeting, held every October, which regularly draws thousands of executives and managers each year.

However, as EPCA CEO Caroline Ciuciu explains, that has simply not been possible since the Covid-19 pandemic emerged last year. EPCA proved very agile in pivoting to a virtual Annual Meeting in 2020, with a somewhat more focused event offering insights from captains of our industry and thought leaders along with perspectives on the leading themes of the year, 'Beyond the New Normal'.

Last year, we heard stories of endurance, creativity and bravery in overcoming pandemic disruptions. We also got a strong sense of commitment to the EU green transformation agenda and learned about the necessary ingredients – from low carbon technology to chemical recycling - to enable our sector to play a key role in this fundamental transformation.

Still, it was clear that the pause presented by the pandemic also gave the opportunity to reflect on EPCA’s actvites and how to adjust to the new

normal. “We were very inspired by the situation,” Ciuciu says. “We had been talking about how to reinvent ourselves for some time but, like our members, we now had the space to reassess our mission and value offering to address the evolving needs of the European petrochemical industry.”

This year, EPCA has decided to provide a much more extensive programme for the Annual Meeting, which runs from 5 to 7 October, once more in a virtual format. It is with a renewed passion that the EPCA team has delivered a very creative event programme with the brain-bursting slogan 'The Future Reimagined' and an unprecedented speaker line-up.

There will be three full afternoon sessions with a broad offering of different format types, including curtain-raiser interviews and keynotes, CEO forums with live Q&A, strategic dialogue with external experts, and interactive workshops, not forgetting the all-important virtual happy hours.

These will cover all the elements of the petrochemical sector, including its industrial

systems from manufacturing to distribution, supply chain, innovation and digitisation. In addition, the programme goes beyond the traditional boundaries of the EPCA Annual Meeting with, for the very first time, emerging topics such as sustainable finance and multistakeholder capitalism, to name just a few..

THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE The overriding theme of this year’s EPCA Annual Meeting is ‘Future Reimagined’. Last year’s Annual Meeting reached the consensus that industry is committed to playing its part in the sustainable transformation. Now, a year on from our last conversation, the commitment is even stronger. There is no question about the why! The many questions that we hear emerging are about the how!

Together, with more than 30 captains of our industry, technical experts as well as a representative of the European Commission and cross-sectoral industry thought leaders, we will reflect on this transformation through three main lenses: • Industry Reimagined, • Sustainability Reimagined, and • Success Reimagined.

The first aspect deals with what Ciuciu terms the ‘industrial transformation and, hopefully, renaissance’. To enable the smart and green transformation of industry, companies are assessing how to redefined their sourcing, manufacturing, logistics and procurement processes. “The sustainable transformation has massive implications in terms of feedstocks, energy supplies and infrastructures,” Ciuciu says. “Companies are revisiting their industrial processes and operating models in a kind of “industrial Meccano” to fit with future needs in a very different world.

“I am convinced we need to be optimistic,” Ciuciu adds. “It goes beyond the notion of

‘Industry 4.0’ and the petrochemical industry can play a leading role in the sustainable transition.”

Secondly comes ‘sustainable reinvention’: how can petrochemicals play a leading role in promoting sustainability and reducing CO2 emissions, as many companies across the industrial sectors have pledged to do. Reducing and dealing with plastics waste is another environmental challenge the petrochemical sector is well placed to deal with.

“There are lots of ideas and projects coming forward,” Ciuciu says. “The transition to a circular, carbon-neutral and sustainable society will require additional technologies with investment and innovations to match, which in turn requires an optimal business environment.”

Sustainable finance is also becoming more important and this will be addressed in a panel discussion bringing together the CFO of Arkema, the chair of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and a representative of a venture capital investor. “With this session, EPCA is taking a new approach: looking at a particular issue through various lenses," Ciuciu explains.

The third and final aspect, ‘success reimagined’, will offer a broader perspective on the transformation our industry is going through. Beyond transforming its industrial processes and operating models to embrace the green transformation, the petrochemical industry is also actively engaged in a more holistic and profound transformation. Companies are reflecting on their purpose and redefining their mission, increasingly embedding ESG into the fabric of their culture and operating models. The role of the board of directors in re-imagining success, as well as the initiative required to attract, develop and retain the leadership, talent and skills needed to drive ESG strategy and outcomes will be discussed.

This enriched programme reflects a decision to open up the Annual Meeting to a wider audience. “The Annual Meeting programme used to be designed for the community of business members,” Ciuciu explains. “Now we want to offer a valuable programme for a more diverse audience,” including managerial and operational people from the supply chain, investor relations, sustainability, HR, communications and other departments. This more varied perspective is part of EPCA’s efforts to transfer knowledge. "Every department of an organisation needs to be involved in this massive transformation,” she adds. "We all have a part to play in this - from leaders in the public and private sectors to all the talents who are part of the EPCA community. We want more people to join the conversation.”

HERE ALL YEAR “EPCA is not just the Annual Meeting!” Ciuciu stresses. “We want a year-round presence and to offer ongoing value to members.” Just as many EPCA member companies have started to change their purpose, EPCA is also revisiting its purpose to offer added value to its members.

One important factor in achieving this new approach will be information and access to it, and that points to a greater role for digitised systems. This is an area where EPCA has been working hard for some time, seeking to establish how its members and their supply chain partners are moving along the digitisation journey and to