Three new members welcomed at Autumn meeting

Europe |

More than 40 representatives from member companies, invited guests and the Eurobitume team participated in our recent online General Meeting on 20th October 2022.

 

 

 

 

 

The agenda included confirmation of three new Eurobitume members - FM Conway and Irish Tar & Bitumen Suppliers (both Core), and Rubis Energie (Associate) – as well as presentations on the work of the HSE, Technical and Public Relations and Communications Committees and the Bitumen Sustainability Steering Group.

Highlights from the expert committee reports

HSE Committee

Karin Hennung (Nynas), the Interim HSE Committee Chair after Mathieu Vaissiere stepped down following a change in job function, with the support of Eurobitume HSE Lead Anja Sörensen, reported on the committee’s work in the following areas:

  • Exposure in the workplace to emissions from hot bitumen, including recommendations for Eurobitume’s Safety Data Sheets
  • ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) consultations on OEL recommendation for PAH
  • CARE (Coalition for Asphalt Research on Emissions) group


Karin Hennung

Safe Handling Sub-Committee (SHSC)

A summary of the work of this important sub-committee, which reports directly into the HSE Committee, was presented by SHSC Chair Bruno Piguel (Shell), supported by Eurobitume SHSC Lead Jean-Michel Michou. They reported on the main focus areas for 2022 and the key topics which SHSC will be concentrating upon in 2023:

2022

  • Incidents & near misses reporting
  • Safe handling recommendation – including additional PPE guidance and updates to the Bitumen Burns Cards

2023

  • Action plan based upon the incident reporting
  • Contribute to the 5th edition of the Energy Institute’s Bitumen Safety Code
  • Communication and Training

PRC Committee

A summary of the PRC’s activities this year was presented by Acting PRC Committee Chair Siobhan McKelvey (Eurobitume), who advised that the committee’s outputs this year included:

  • Eurobitume 2021 Annual Review
  • Stakeholder research and ‘personas’ development
  • Training tools and videos, including introduction of members’ webinars
  • E&E Event support
  • HSE and Technical Committee support
  • Outputs for BSSG

Technical Committee

Committee Chair Véronique Ducreux (ExxonMobil) and Eurobitume Technical Lead Ian Lancaster spoke about the Committee’s activities and next steps in relation to two main areas:

1. Standardization

  • Construction Product Regulation
  • Task Force (TF) Specifications and TF Test Methods

2. Links with industry sectors

  • EAPA
  • Asphalt Institute
  • Academia webinars


Véronique Ducreux

Members Survey

Eurobitume Director General Siobhan McKelvey presented highlights from the 2022 Member Survey:

  • Fewer responses (48) than previous two years – 58 in 2021 and 62 in 2020
  • Overall results again show member satisfaction is high, although there was a small increase in the proportion of partly satisfied.
  • HSE and Technical material together with Involvement in committees, regulatory Influence and E&E activities remain in the top five for 2022 (NB The new activity introduced this year, ‘member webinars’, was rated next as sixth highest.
  • Top three areas to develop 2023-2026 were:
    • Communication to politicians and policy makers
    • Educational material for external audiences
    • Focus on general public this year increased and replaced providing internal training for members in third.
  • Continued to see significant feedback on ‘Sustainability’ as an area of future focus for Eurobitume
  • 58% of respondents said their membership of Eurobitume provides them and their organisation with high added value when compared to their membership of other industry associations.

Bitumen Sustainability Steering Group (BSSG)

BSSG Chair Richard Taylor (Shell) provided an overview of BSSG’s activities in 2022, including completing the update supplement of the 2020 LCI report.

He reported on BSSG’s work on Climate Change and Circularity, where good progress was made developing and promoting the ’bitumen and sustainability’ story - including making presentations at various events including the Belgium Asphalt Day in March, the Eurobitume Members’ Webinar in June and the Future Roads conference in New Zealand in November.

He also stated BSSG’s main deliverables in 2023 were to:

  • Develop an external webinar for Eurobitume stakeholders on ‘Bitumen and Sustainability’
  • Follow–up from the E&E Event 2022 in Vienna
  • Revise IS-230 publication: ‘The bitumen industry - a global perspective’, to include a new chapter on sustainability
  • Identify further potential external platforms upon which Eurobitume can share bitumen’s sustainability messaging

At the end of the event, Eurobitume President Francisco Lucas (Repsol) thanked everyone for all their hard work during these uncertain times and confirmed the details for next year’s Eurobitume Spring and Autumn meetings:

  • Spring Meeting 2023: 29th–31st March in Madrid
  • Autumn Meeting 2023: 19th–20th October in Brussels


Francisco Lucas

 

 

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