TO BE PUBLISHED September 2026
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This conference will focus on the future direction of the UK chemical industry. The agenda will draw together latest thinking on priorities emerging from recent and ongoing regulatory reform and growth strategy, in the context of the Industrial Strategy, developments to the UK REACH market framework, the PFAS Plan and the announcement of the proposed European Partnership Bill in the recent Kings Speech which aims to reduce friction in sectors like chemicals.
Policy, funding & maintaining resilience
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to examine what will be needed to secure long-term resilience, competitiveness, and sustainable growth of the UK chemical industry. Delegates will assess current policy, regulation, and government-industry co-ordination in terms of what can help support chemicals as a foundational sector within the Industrial Strategy, and against the backdrop of pressures on costs, production, and competitiveness. Attendees will also consider the strategy’s implications for investment, domestic capacity, and the UK’s position in global chemicals markets.
Regulatory reform
Further discussion will look at developments to UK REACH as the UK’s regulatory and market framework for the sector, following the Government’s response to its recent consultation in March - which confirmed the introduction of the Alternative Transitional Registration Model - and how that might affect costs, competitiveness, trade, and investment. Attendees will assess how regulatory reform can modify compliance burdens and support innovation, including for smaller businesses and downstream users, while maintaining health and environmental safety, and avoiding supply chain disruption.
Pollution prevention & sustainability
The agenda will examine latest thinking on decarbonisation, circularity, and environmental management. Areas for consideration include the contribution of electrification, hydrogen, CCUS, alternative feedstocks, and regional clusters to lower-carbon production.
Shifts in environmental law represented by policies such as the forthcoming Circular Economy Growth Plan are also expected to be discussed, including the sector roadmap for processing and recycling chemicals and plastics. Delegates will consider implementation of the PFAS Plan and priorities under the Environmental Improvement Plan for understanding sources, tackling pathways, reducing exposure, and strengthening prevention and remediation of chemical pollution, including reform of sludge spreading rules for land contamination.
Overview of areas for discussion
- Industrial Strategy, competitiveness, and sector resilience:
- addressing high industrial energy prices, carbon costs, foreign competition, site closures, output declines, domestic production capacity, and long-term investment
- the role of the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme and the Supply Chain Centre
- supply chains, skills, and workforce capacity:
- addressing skills gaps and workforce shortages
- building workforce capacity for growth, decarbonisation, and a just transition
- decarbonisation and low-carbon innovation:
- balancing growth with decarbonisation through electrification, hydrogen, CCUS, alternative feedstocks, and support for hard-to-abate processes
- role of regional clusters and decarbonisation infrastructure in enabling greener production and economies of scale
- UK REACH and regulatory reform:
- direction of UK REACH - implementation of the Alternative Transitional Registration Model - preparation for registration - opportunities for alignment with the EU and other trusted jurisdictions
- implications of streamlined data requirements and reduced compliance costs for competitiveness and investment
- balancing reform with health and environmental safety
- avoiding supply chain disruptions
- drawing on the Regulation Action Plan
- circularity and resource efficiency:
- opportunities arising from the forthcoming Circular Economy Strategy and sector roadmap for chemicals and plastics
- advancing chemical recycling, sustainable feedstocks, circular business models, and wider resource efficiency across the sector
- chemicals in the environment and pollution prevention:
- science-based and proportionate approaches to regulating PFAS and other substances of concern while balancing environmental protection, industrial competitiveness, and essential downstream uses
- pesticides and persistent organic pollutants:
- progress under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the UK Pesticides Action Plan
- implications of the new UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement for pesticides regulation and management of chemicals in the environment
