US technology group 3M (Saint Paul, Minnesota; www.3m.com), which has come under fire from PFAS critics and environmentalists on both sides of the Atlantic, has announced that Bill Brown will take over as CEO on 1 May 2024, succeeding Mike Roman. 

Roman was made chairman of the board in 2018, and will now move to the supervisory board as executive chairman. 

Brown was formerly executive chairman at defence contractor L3 Harris Technologies. As CEO of 3M, he can expect a mass of challenges. In view of the vast claims for damages in the US amounting to billions of dollars, the group announced last year that it would cease the production and use of all fluoropolymers, fluorinated liquids, and PFAS-based additive products by the end of 2025.

The plans affect two domestic sites and one each in Belgium and Germany.

Related: EPA revs regulatory engine over PFAS

How Brown and Roman intend to manage the exit from the production and use of PFAS, which are regarded as harmful to health, seemingly remains largely unclear.

For 3M, the “forever chemical” is a significant economic factor: its Dyneon PFAS division most recently reported sales of USD 1.3 bn (EUR 1.17 bn), which was a share of just under 4% of the Post-it producer’s total turnover. The EBITDA margin of the division was 16%.