Chemicals industry's proposal for 50% expansion echoes Royal Society of Chemistry calls for action

The Royal Society of Chemistry today welcomed a strategy for a dramatic expansion of the UK chemicals sector, announced by the Chemistry Growth Partnership.

Chief executive Robert Parker said: "The CGP's call this morning for a 50 per cent expansion of the chemicals sector by 2030 is important because a thriving chemicals industry is essential for the UK to stay economically competitive.

"The Chemistry Growth Partnership strategy echoes our own messages this year about the importance of science to the viability of the country.

"In our own campaign, launched last spring, we underline the worrying reality that support for UK science is falling behind compared with our competitors.

"The amount that the government spends on research and development in the UK is only 0.57 per cent of GDP, which compares weakly with 0.91 per cent in the USA and 0.69 per cent in the EU."

Dr Parker said that government figures showed that the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors alone made up 1.9% of gross value added to the UK economy in 2011 (reaching £27bn)

The flourishing biotechnology industry, for instance, is predicted to contribute £4-12bn by 2025.

"The partnership's case for expansion demands attention and action -  we at the Royal Society of Chemistry endorse it completely, aiming as we do, to support the British economy, not just through the current hard times, but in the decades ahead when the challenge worldwide can only accelerate."