The signs of the times

摘要

The image of the European chemical industry has changed more significantly than any other over the past decades. In the 1950s and 60s, smoking chimneys were still seen as a desirable sign of successful business activity, but in later years, industrial activities in general, and the chemical industry in particular, were viewed with a much more critical eye.rnMajor consumer goods producers and big retail chains have realized that it does indeed matter how and where they make their products. Today, consumers attach great importance to factors such as child labour and pollution, demanding that companies take these things into consideration and eliminate them from the value chain.%Das Image der chemischen Industrie in Europa hat sich wie kaum ein anderes im Laufe der letzten Jahrzehnte gewandelt. Galt es in den fünfziger und sechziger Jahren noch als erstrebenswert und war Zeichen von erfolgreichem wirtschaftlichen Handeln wenn die Schlote rauchten, so sah man die Industrie im Allgemeinen und die chemische Industrie im Besonderen in späteren Jahren mit einem sehr kritischen Auge.