Pascal Sauvaire, COO of SK Functional Polymer, is a French leader who is in charge of various tasks including production, marketing, R&D. He has been spending many years in the chemical industry and experienced different positions and businesses in multiple countries.

We had a chance to ask Sauvaire about his experiences a few weeks ago. Let’s check the interview below to learn more about him.

Q1. Hello, could you briefly introduce yourself please?

My name is Pascal Sauvaire. I was born a long time ago south of France, in Cannes but I am not a movie star. (smiling)

I did my studies in France and in the U.S., where I got a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from the University of California Santa Barbara.

Q2. We heard that you have been working with Arkema for more than 17 years and in charge of various roles here. We hope you can tell us a bit about some main positions/tasks for which you were responsible.

I have been working in the chemical industry for almost 30 years for different companies starting with CECA. At my first company, I also got to know about SK Global Chemical, when I went to Ulsan for the construction of the paraxylene separation plant. So my first “encounter” with SK Global Chemical was actually many years ago.

After that CECA was bought by Elf, which was later acquired by Total Energies. Total Energies divested its chemical business that became Arkema. It was quite a long history.

My first job was in sales and technical assistance, I then moved to take charge of a new business that started from scratch in the U.S. before going back to France to be Purchasing Vice President for Arkema in many years. I have experiences of running different businesses, from Caustic Soda, Chlorine, Hydrogene peroxide, Hydrazine, etc. before being in charge of Polyolefines business unit that was acquired by SK Global Chemical in June 2020.

Q3. It has been about a year since you became a member of SK Global Chemical’s big family, There must be some differences in the working culture. Could you share with us your thought about it?

In my opinion, the biggest difference is the speed. At SK Global Chemical, works tend to be started quickly. However, in French culture, we spend more time analyzing again and again all details and implications, even the small ones, before making any decision. I still have some difficulties in finding the balance, because it is not easy to change a working style that I got used to.

I really appreciate the speed, but sometime I would like to have more time to analyze things deeper.

Q4. I see. Understaning the working culture of each country is definitely really important, and I agree that we should learn to respect each other. So that was a personal level, how about the group level? How is the M&A affecting your organization and business? And what is your outlook for the future?

A lot of work for everyone to ensure first business continuity from Arkema to SK Functional Polymer, a lot of hiring, training for all the support function that were not transferred. We are discovering a new way of working, having new products, new colleagues, new organization. There are also a lot of changes to come with the re-organization. We are still in transition, but despite all the changes, we are and will still able to maintain strong business performance, I believe.

Q5. How do you see the trends and future prospects of the packaging industry in Europe and all over the world?

Recycling and Green economy have been the main trend in the packaging industry for some time.

Things are now speeding up with countries putting pressure with eco taxes, costumers asking for eco-friendly product, and so on. We are now able to address those trends (mono-materials, down gauging, etc.) with SK Global Chemical’s multi-products solutions.

We are open to new opportunities. The most important point is to stay ahead of the curve in terms of green technology, trend and solutions that will be used and/or promoted by brand owners.

Q6. Our daily life has changed a lot with many difficulties and limitations due to the continuing COVID-19 situation. How are you overcoming them?

The main difficulty is that we have to keep our “human relations” within the teams, with the customers, and the market. What we did to keep that human closeness staying safe amid the pandemic is to organize some “virtual café time,” an activity that we just gather online and talk about everything but work.

We also organized some virtual events like online “escape game”, and virtual “breakfast”. Everybody loved those activities.

Q7. Last but not least, what message would you like to convey to our company members?

Let’s do it!

Thank you for your stories. We wish you the best and hope you stay safe and healthy.