SusChem celebrates ten years of research

SusChem, the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, is celebrating ten years of research and innovation in Europe with a stakeholder event in Brussels from 11-12 June.

SusChem is officially recognised as a platform under Horizon 2020. Since its launch in 2004, SusChem has contributed to areas including industrial biotechnology, process technologies, and the development of new materials.

Over the past decade, SusChem has inspired research and innovation projects worth over €1bn, with the vast majority being funded via FP7. Under Horizon 2020, SusChem has inspired two major new public private partnerships aiming to deliver a competitive advantage for Europe: the Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) PPP and the Bio-based Industries JTI.

“SusChem is leading the development of many of the key enabling technologies that are indispensable to achieving sustainable solutions for our most pressing societal challenges,” said chairman of the SusChem board Dr Klaus Sommer.

On 11-12 June, the new SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) will be discussed. The SIRA will set SusChem’s research and innovation priorities for the medium term.

Sommer added: “The proximity of European value chains across many different sectors, the possibility to easily work together on highly technical, cross-border projects, and the European economic ecosystem of large and small enterprises working together give Europe a strong head start to deliver the sustainable technologies the world needs.”

To enable Europe to meet the needs of 21st Century societal challenges, a working population equipped with the right skill sets is needed. Sommer concluded that sustainable chemistry and science education in general must be made “more exciting and inspiring to attract more of our best young people with the right skills to science, technology and engineering careers”.