Speakers - REACH Masterclass

Dr Chris Howick, INOVYN ChlorVinyls

Dr Chris Howick is the product regulation manager for INOVYN Chlorvinyls. He is a graduate of the City University, London, where he earned a BSc degree in Chemistry and also a graduate of Nottingham University, England, where he obtained a PhD degree in Inorganic Chemistry.

Chris’ prior experience includes 5 years with ICI where he worked firstly on the development of low migration plasticisers for PVC and then in a technical service role.

After ICI he joined European Vinyls Corporation (EVC) and worked on applications development and technical service in the plastisols market. He has had various roles in technical service, technical marketing and regulatory affairs which he continued when EVC became INEOS Vinyls.

Chris became the Product Stewardship Manager for INEOS Chlorvinyls in December 2006 and had responsibility for the group’s REACH activities and regulatory position of its PVC resins. He became chair of the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers REACH committee in 2007 and this developed into the consortium for the registration of Vinyl Chloride Monomer which was submitted to the European Chemicals Agency in 2010, along with fifty other registration dossiers, which included two other lead registrant dossiers. In 2008 he was also elected chair of the British Plastics Federation Product Safety Committee. With the formation OF INOVYN Chris was recently appointed as Product Regulation Manager. Chris is a regular presenter at conferences, particularly those involving PVC or polymer regulations.

Roger Van der Linden, Borealis

Roger Van der Linden graduated with a Ph.D in Science from the State University of Ghent, Belgium in 1974. In his professional career he has been working for companies in the polymer industry like Exxon, Raychem, Mobil, Neste and Borealis in a variety of technical and managerial functions.

For the last few years he has been the Group Manager for Product Stewardship in Borealis. Moreover, since 2004 he is leading a team to implement the REACH and CLP legislation. Roger is also active in a number of associations at the national and European level, like CEFIC and PlasticsEurope in the field of environment and producer responsibility.

Due to his practical experience in implementing REACH and CLP he has been a presenter and chairman at a variety of international conferences and workshops on these topics.

Steve Quinn, West and Senior

Stephen Quinn has worked in the polymer industry for 30 years, specialising in Polymer Additives with particular focus on the foaming of plastics. Stephen is employed as Product and Marketing Manager for West and Senior Limited and is also the companies EMEA Leader for REACH related matters.

Stephen resides as Chairperson for a Technical Committee consisting of fifty multi-national companies examining the impact of REACH upon the foaming industry and also sits as a member within a UK Consortium of leading industrial sectors examining the influence of REACH upon the broader UK and European manufacturing infrastructure.

Stephen has presented case study experience to the UK Chemicals Stakeholder Forum, a UK Government run collective evaluating chemical regulatory controls and has also been in direct discussion with representatives of the European Commission and ECHA in relation to REACH.

Dr Sandra Meijer, The REACH Centre

An Environmental Chemist by training, Sandra joined The REACH Centre 7 years ago. In her current role as Director of Business Development, Sandra takes the lead on managing and developing The REACH Centre's Regulatory Services. In particular, Sandra has been instrumental in recent years in developing the Chemtrac suite of chemicals management tools for industry. As a recognised expert on REACH and chemicals management, Sandra delivers bespoke REACH training for industry, and undertakes REACH audits. Additionally, Sandra has worked extensively with multinationals and trade associations in the area of Product Stewardship

Silvia Segna, Chemical Industries Association

Silvia is responsible for leading the Association’s policy work on REACH and biocides legislation. Part of her work is also to provide advice and guidance to member companies on legislative compliance. Silvia holds a Master’s Degree in Materials Engineering from the University of Trento (Italy). Previous experience includes the position of Technical and Regulatory Affairs manager in the engineering plastics business unit of a large polyamide manufacturer, where she was responsible for managing the technical customer service and ensuring products’ compliance with technical standards as well as chemicals management legislation applicable in different sectors such as automotive, electric/electronic, food contact.