Full speaker line-up finalised for upcoming vinyl sustainability event
A speaker line-up with high profile names from the United Nations, the European Commission and the vinyl industry has been announced for the upcoming Vinyl Sustainability Forum.
‘Smart Vinyl for our Cities’ organised by VinylPlus, the sustainable development programme of the European PVC industry, will take place in Vienna, Austria, on 28th April 2016.
Top-level speakers include Stephan Sicars, Director Environment Department, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).
In his keynote address on ‘Pathways towards Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development’, Sicars will cover the main outcomes of the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Summit in relation to 21st century industry. He will also outline UNIDO’s approach to the circular economy and recommendations to meet the challenges ahead.
Current and expected trends in the global PVC market and the European market’s future business strategy will be highlighted by keynote speaker, Karl Martin Schellerer, Managing Director of Vinnolit GmbH & Co. KG.
Brigitte Dero, VinylPlus General Manager will report on current achievements through the Voluntary Commitment to sustainable development, including updates on the mid-term review findings, recommendations and future goals for PVC sustainability.
In key sessions looking at ‘The Big Global Challenge - Sustainable Cities in the 21st Century’ and ‘Setting the Standards for Sustainable Cities’, newly-confirmed speakers include Alexandre Schmidt, Director of Finance and Real Estate, City Council of Bern, Switzerland and Georg Pommer, Unit Head of Testing, Monitoring and Certification Center, City of Vienna. They will be explaining their views on PVC and its use within their ‘Policies for Building and Construction’ in their respective cities.
Joining them will be Christos Fragakis, Deputy Head of Unit, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission on ‘Renaturing Cities through Innovative and Nature-based Urban Design’. Fragakis will outline how the EU plans to achieve the SDGs in the urban context and links with the 2015 EU Circular Economy Plan.
“Our annual Forum offers a varied and stimulating agenda from which participants can share best practice and draw inspiration from our continuing achievements. Through our Voluntary Commitment, we are moving the European PVC industry towards a Circular Economy,” commented Brigitte Dero.
In parallel, a session on the ‘Worldwide View on PVC’, on April 27th and organised by ECVM (the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers), will showcase news and developments from representatives from South East Asia, Canada, USA, China and Japan.
VinylPlus is the renewed ten-year Voluntary Commitment of the European PVC industry. The programme establishes a long-term framework for the sustainable development of the PVC industry by tackling a number of critical challenges in the EU-28, Norway and Switzerland.
More information on the 2016 Forum and how to register can be found at http://vinylplus.eu/community/vinyl-sustainability-forum/vsf16