Coming soon is a brand new website about the production and uses of chlorine in the United Kingdom. We expect it to be up and running in December 2007. While we are working on it, here is a brief snapshot.

Chlorine is one of a family of natural, inorganic chemical products made by the chlor-alkali industry using salt, in the form of a brine solution, as its starting material. The other main chemicals are caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid and salt for culinary and medicinal uses (eg: saline drip). They are described as “inorganic” because they do not contain carbon, another natural chemical.

To ensure that the chlor-alkali industry in Europe remains sustainable and competitive, production has been concentrated gradually over the past decade on fewer, larger factories while smaller, older factories that do not come up to today’s high environmental standards have been closed. The industry in the UK is no exception. In 2001 INEOS Chlor took over the chlor-alkali business of ICI, including the vast Runcorn manufacturing site, and it is now the UK’s sole remaining large producer. INEOS Chlor is also one of the leading producers in Europe and a global leader in the manufacture of chemicals based on chlorine. These chemicals include raw materials needed by other key industries such as water treatment, paints, pharmaceuticals, engineering, construction, electronics and agriculture, to deliver a wide range of familiar benefits to people, the economy and the environment.

Euro Chlor is a Brussels-based business association, which provides scientific, advocacy and communications support to the chlor-alkali industry in nearly all European countries. The association is working with industry representatives in main EU countries, including the UK, to provide up to date industry facts and figures. UK information previously available on the website of the Chemical Industries Association is a part of this process and will be displayed in updated form on this website from December 2007.

While all this is going on, you can find information about chlorine in general from Chlorine Online at www.eurochlor.org. To find out about chlorine-based products in the UK or request information available to students and teachers or see how the industry approaches safety, health, the environment and its relations with the communities who live near its factories, visit the INEOS Chlor website, at: http://www.ineoschlor.com/community/community_home_page.htm.