Board chair admits ‘a little arm twisting' to secure continued leadership on new initiative

Dooley

Not so fast on news of Cal Dooley's retirement at American Chemistry Council, which was announced in April.

The $123 million-revenue association issued a statement Monday afternoon saying Dooley has agreed to stay on through next year. The ACC board said it feels Dooley's continued leadership is needed to see through a major new initiative on plastic waste.

"As ACC members embark on an effort to reduce and eliminate plastic waste in the years to come, the ACC officers felt strongly that Cal's experience and leadership were essential to aligning the global industry around a coordinated strategy," board Chair Bob Patel, CEO of LyondellBasell.

"With a little arm twisting and agreement from his gracious wife Linda, we were able to convince Cal to stay on to lead the development of this critical effort," Patel said.

Dooley said in the same statement that "ending plastic waste is an issue of personal as well as professional interest" for him.

"The global chemicals and plastics industry has an imperative to fight the spread of mismanaged plastic waste that is increasingly littering our rivers, oceans and landscapes," Dooley said. "While plastic products provide countless health, safety, lifestyle and sustainability benefits, those benefits cannot be fully realized unless we take swift and aggressive actions to make the most of all resources and leverage technology to dramatically increase rates of reuse, recycling and recovery of all plastic products."

ACC had retained executive search firm Korn Ferry conduct the search for Dooley's replacement. The group said the search has been suspended, but Korn Ferry will resume efforts in mid-2019.