PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Ivo Vermeeren
ESTAL President
Dear Visitor,
As President of Estal it is my pleasure to welcome you to our website.
In the next pages you will discover that our Association plays a very important role in protecting and defending the interests of the Aluminium Surface Treatment Industry in Europe.
ESTAL members include national aluminium surface treatment associations in Europe, aluminium finishing companies located in European countries without national associations, suppliers to the aluminium surface treatment industries and associations located in Europe owning one or more quality label(s) for surface treatment on aluminium.
We seek to stimulate a dialogue between the industry, its suppliers and users, both at national and at European level and want to contribute to finding solutions to technical, economic and ecological issues associated with the production and utilisation of surface-treated aluminium, encouraging the sharing of knowledge and the development of new technologies. In this respect also being a member of European Aluminium www.european-aluminium.eu offers great added value.
On another level, Estal also represents the aluminium finishing industry in European Institutions. The present focus is on the review of the Best available technique REFerence document for the Surface Treatment of Metals and plastics (STM BREF), which will become the basis for environmental permits under the new EU Industrial Emissions Directive. ESTAL is member of the Technical Working Group that supports the European Commission in this process.
You will read that the sharing of knowledge is yet another key priority of our Association. A great example here is the bi-annual congress we organise, and that attracts participants from all over the globe. Next to that, we have a vast network of specialists and key players in our field of business that gladly share their knowledge to the benefit of our members. In this way, Estal is providing fresh impetus for the aluminium finishing industry, with the aim of maintaining existing markets and opening up new opportunities and business areas for its members.
If after reading through the next pages you want more information on our Association, please feel free to contact our secretariat at secretariat@estal.org and follow us on LinkedIn.