Overview :

Over 30 years of experience in the field of Sustainable Development with:
1. Industries; petroleum, mining and metallurgical;
2. Governments; industry and environment departments;
3. Associations; national and international industry associations.

Guy Ethier is a member of Umicore Senior management since 2001. In January 2018, considering the important growth for Umicore of the rechargeable battery materials, the Executive Committee has appointed Guy Ethier as Senior Vice-President in charge of the sustainability aspects of the value chain for rechargeable batteries with a particular focus on cobalt. Guy's responsibilities include representing Umicore at various high-level institutions; including as Chairman of the Cobalt Institute; the steering committee of the World Economic Forum Global Battery Alliance and as a spokesman for sustainability for the Umicore’s battery business units. He also supports initiatives that promote the collection and recycling of cobalt-containing devices and will interact with stakeholders on improving the conditions of cobalt extraction.
Prior to his current assignment, Guy Ethier had spent over 15 years as Umicore’s Senior Vice-President responsible for Environment, Health and Safety (EHS). Over those 15 years EHS was at the heart of Umicore’s transformation with: - annually reporting of non financial data to stakeholders and society; Umicore’s 200 million Euros remediation program to erase the historical footprint; as Umicore has transformed significantly over this period, EHS due diligence was an important component of the transformation. Further, Umicore’s product stewardship program, including the response to REACH, was also under his responsibility. Beside a team of 50 EHS experts, Umicore EHS network comprise over 200 partners. Finally, as advocacy plays an important role in promoting Umicore’s business strategy: (World Business Council for Sustainable Development; BusinessEurop, Eurometaux and the European Precious Metal REACH Consortia).

Background:

Professional Chemical Engineer with senior management training;
Canadian nationality living in Belgium since 2001.