Flanders, the Netherlands and North Rhine-Westphalia develop a joint strategy for a successful future for the chemical sector

The governments of Flanders, the Netherlands and the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia have been working closely together since September 2017 to further develop the chemical industry, which has a strong presence in these regions. To this end, the three partners launched a joint strategy in which the local chemical sector is to become the […]
essenscia launches Circular Procurement Network

essenscia CAN (“Circulair Aankopen Netwerk”) is essenscia’s Circular Procurement Network. It was established at the end of 2017 with the support of Circular Flanders as part of the Green Deal Circular Purchases of which essenscia vlaanderen is one of the facilitating organisations. The objective of essenscia CAN is to encourage companies from the chemical, plastics […]
Chemicals industry is a pioneer in dual learning

The chemistry and life sciences sector has played a pioneering role in the development of dual learning for many years. Dual learning is an innovative and practice-oriented form of education in which an important part of the teaching time takes place on the work floor, under the supervision of a company mentor. This way, students […]
Janssen Pharmaceutica is the first chemical and pharmaceutical company to win the Factory of the Future Award

Janssen Geel, the chemical production site of the international pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (J&J), received the Factory of the Future Award in 2019 as the first company in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Of all medicines by the American parent company J&J, two out of three synthetic active ingredients are made in Geel. The […]
Attracting talent with job events tailored to the sector

With We Are Chemistry in Flanders and the Jobdays in Wallonia, essenscia organises specialised job events to attract more technical and scientific talent to the chemical, plastics and life sciences industry and help companies fill their vacancies. Held since 2011, We are Chemistry is the most important job fair in Flanders for the chemical and […]
Young Talent Lab: young people in dialogue with CEOs on climate and sustainability

More than a hundred young people, from secondary and higher education as well as young employees from the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, gathered at the very first Young Talent Lab of essenscia vlaanderen at Technopolis in Mechelen. They entered into a dialogue with each other and with CEOs and managers from sector companies on themes […]
ViTalent, a pioneering training centre for the life sciences industry

ViTalent is the very first specialized training centre for the pharma and biotech industry in Flanders. ViTalent will open at the Wetenschapspark in Niel at the end of 2021 and offers tailor-made courses for job seekers, students and new or experienced employees from the life sciences sector. Employees from pharmaceutical and biotech companies can count […]
essenscia joins the Circular Plastics Alliance for more and improved recycling

Promoting the importance of plastics in the circular economy to achieve the European objective of using at least 10 million tons of recycled plastics in the production of new products by 2025. That is the aim of the Circular Plastics Alliance, a voluntary initiative that unites public and private actors from the plastics sector. The […]
BlueChem, the first incubator for sustainable chemistry in Belgium

Helping promising start-ups and rapidly growing companies to develop sustainable innovations for the chemistry of the future, on an industrial scale. This is the objective of BlueChem, the first incubator in Belgium dedicated to innovation and entrepreneurship in sustainable chemistry and the circular economy, such as the effective use of waste and by-products, process optimisation […]
SIRA programme trains a total of 940 youngsters to work for Antwerp’s chemical companies

The SIRA programme was devised by the non-profit organisation ‘Scheikundige Industrie Regio Antwerpen (SIRA)’ in collaboration with social partners (ABVV, BBTK, ACV, LBC-NVK). The project began in 1987 because applicants for jobs with Antwerp’s chemical companies were lacking a qualification which would make them suitable recruits. A typical feature of the chemical industry is the […]