2020 Speakers
Speakers Confirmed for the 2020 Virtual Summit


James Sulivan
Head, Global Sustainability Innovation Accelerator | SAP


Werner Bosmans
Directorate General Environment | European Commission


Kristin Hughes
Director of the Global Plastic Action Partnership and Member of the Executive Committee | World Economic Forum


Kathleen Rademan
Director Innovation Platform | Fashion for Good
Kathleen Rademan is the Director of the Innovation Platform at Fashion for Good. Fashion for Good is the global platform for collaborative innovation in the fashion Industry. Together, we harness the power of innovation, practical action & collaboration towards a circular textile industry.
Kathleen is responsible for leading Fashion for Good’s Accelerator Programme and for sourcing and implementing innovation within the plastics, end of use, CMT and traceability space. She leads the implementation effort through developing collaborative, global, multi-brand pilot projects with the most recent being the polybag to polybag project launched in December 2019.
Kathleen brings both financial and sustainable start up experience to the table having spent six years in investment banking financing the retail sector and two years as Strategy Lead for Dutch sustainability start up Fastned. Under her direction, Fastned launched in four new markets across Europe. Kathleen has a background in financial mathematics and holds a MBA from INSEAD


Cyrill Gutsch
CEO & Founder | Parley Ocean Plastic Program


Stephen Jamieson
Head of Sustainable Business Innovation | SAP
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David Nelson
Director of Biodegradable Platform | Eastman Chemical Company


Dr. Ashley Holding
Principal Consultant and Scientist | Circular Material Solutions Ltd


Sophie Tuviahu
VP Business Development and Sales | UBQ Materials


Katherine Roop
Business Development - BioPBS | PTTMCC Biochem Company Limited


Annika Sundell
Executive Vice President Innovations and Business Development | Walki Group


Will Garrard
Director Operations | Recycling Technologies


Irene Cristina Latorre Martinez
Senior Project Manager | Covestro Deutschland AG


Eric Klingenberg
Materials Science Lead | Mars, Inc


David Azoulay
Managing Attorney | Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)


Rolph Payet
Secretariat | Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions


Géraldine Weilandt
VP Body Care, Body Cleansing, Sun & Creams | Beiersdorf AG


Amanda Johnston
Curator & Education Consultant | Sustainable Angle


Simon Locke
Sustainable Design Innovation Manager | The Body Shop


Jaclyn Allen
Director Corporate Sustainability | Guess
As Director, Corporate Sustainability for international fashion brand, Guess?, Inc., Jaclyn launched the company’s first-ever sustainability plan and reporting program. Jaclyn manages a global, multifunctional sustainability team, and works to embed sustainability throughout the business. Prior to Guess, Jaclyn worked as a public affairs consultant with the California Department of Water Resources and worked on statewide ballot measures supporting environmental and clean energy initiatives. Jaclyn earned her MBA from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of California, Davis.


Hannu Kasurinen
EVP, Head of Packaging Materials Division | Storaenso


Thomas Mueller-Kirschbaum
Head of R&D and Sustainability | Henkel


Haley Lowry
Global Sustainability & End Use Marketing Director | Dow Chemicals


Archana Jagannathan
Snr Director Sustainable Plastics | PepsiCo


Pilar Tejada Lopez
Head of Brand & Communication | PYRATES smart fabrics


Charlotte McCurdy
Founder | Charlotte McCurdy Research


Mark Fournier
Director of Packaging Sales | Norpac


Sean Simpson
Chief Scientific Officer & Co-founder | Lanzatech


Ebru Ozaydin
Sr VP Sales and Marketing | Artistic Milliners
Ebru Ozaydin has been working in denim industry for more than 23 years at diverse roles in product development, sales, marketing and corporate sustainability.
As a part of her corporate role; being the first corporate sustainability officer of a denim mill, she conducted philanthropic projects in collaboration with global NGOs/NPOs, shared her experience at industry organizations, supervised CSR projects, launched the first corporate sustainability platform of a denim mill.
Developer of “Denim Academy” Customer Training and Loyalty program, which is known to be the first in the industry to revamp after-sales services, help to support brands&retailers for rigorous training in denim fabric making process. She’s the co-author / co-producer of multiple series of “Denim Academy” books & educational media within period of 2002-2015 where more than 500 denim heads all around the world were involved. She is the author of “Troubleshooting in Denim Production” guidebook; a dissertation study of her Fashion Management M.A.
In 2016, she developed “Great Minds Think Alike” Initiative that aims to bring like-minded parties /experts for delivering smart and sustainable solutions created with a collaborative mindset and ran the “California Drought and Impact of Denim Washing’ seminar in Los Angeles, USA.
Member of Rivet’s Influential 50 in supply chain category in 2019 which is an index of the most creative and forward-thinking leaders driving the global Jeanswear industry.
Proud New York City co-ambassador of “Women in Denim Initiative”.
Holds Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering, studied Fashion Management M.A. and has a postgraduate degree in Interactive Marketing, MA.


Lars Börger
Vice President Renewable Polymers & Chemicals | Neste


W. Clayton Bunyard
TitleResearch Technical Leader - Global Research & Engineering | Kimberly-Clark


Dave Garforth
Program Director | The Responsible Plastic Management Program


Rebecca Johansson
Sustainability and R&D Manager | Helly Hansen


Dr Pete Myers
Founder and Board Chair, Environmental Health Sciences, Adjunct Professor of Chemistry | Carnegie Mellon University


Dr. Alper Kiziltas
Technical Expert, Sustainability and Emerging Materials | Ford Motor Company Research and Innovation Center


Brad Rodgers
Strategic Consultant | Danimer Scientific
Having earned his degree in Polymer Chemistry at the University of Missouri-Rolla, Brad Rodgers is a veteran of the plastics and packaging industry, who has dedicated over 30 years to its innovation and improvement.
Brad spent the first 13 years of his career working for major polyolefin manufacturers in Texas (CP Chem) and Delaware (Montell), where he developed polymers for use in numerous packaging applications. He then spent 18 years as the Research & Development Director of Foods Packaging Discovery and Sustainability for PepsiCo where his responsibilities included the development of the next generation of packaging materials with a better overall impact on the environment (notably the SunChips Compostable package).
After an early retirement from PepsiCo earlier this year, Brad started his own business where he consults with industry leaders on ways to improve packaging and its environmental footprint. He currently holds 16 patents for various packaging applications and has written/co-authored several papers and published many articles about food packaging.


Jean-François Pascal
VP Corporate Sustainability | Beiersdorf AG


Jordan Nodarse
Creative Director | Boyish Jeans
Jordan Nodarse, a California native with a deep passion for sustainable practices in fashion, launchedBoyish Jeans after more than a decade spent learning the ins and outs of the denim industry. Buildinghis skills from the ground up, Jordan got his start by working hands-on with factories thatmanufactured the kinds of garments he was interested in creating. It was this highly technical trainingthat allowed him to truly understand the process and the art of functional, high quality design


Jason Locklin
Director, New Materials Institute Center Lead, Center for Advanced Polymers, Fibers & Coatings | University of Georgia


Dr. Luke M. Haverhals
Founder & CEO | Natural Fiber Welding, Inc


Andreas Walsner
Sales Manager | Stora Enso Intelligent Packaging


Joanna Dupont Inglis
Head of EU Affairs | European Bioplastics


Michalyn Andrews
Chief Executive Officer | Provenance Bio


Fernanda Tavares
Vice President of Marketing | Cardolite
Fernanda Tavares is the Vice President of Marketing at Cardolite based in Bristol, PA. She received her Bachelor Degree in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University in 2003 and started her career with Rohm and Haas (now Dow Chemical) where she held various technical and commercial positions. Since joining Cardolite in 2011, Fernanda has focused on market and product development for industrial applications.


Martin Vroegh
Sustainability & Cement/Concrete expert | Independent Consultant


Kian Hoe Seah
Managing Director | Heng Hiap Industries


Xie Tai Bo
Chairman | Guangdong Shaoneng Group Luzhou Technology Development Co., Ltd.


Francois de Bie
Senior Marketing Director | Total Corbion


Qinghua Liu
Executive Director | Nafici (Linqing China) Bio-technology Co


Akiko Shinoda
Area Manager Public Relations | Itochu Corporation


Dr. Mark Taylor
Research Fellow | University of Leeds


Christopher Stanev
Co-Founder & President | Evrnu SPC


Bart-Jan van der Gaag
Digital Engineer | Royal HaskoningDHV


Arthur ten Wolde
Executive Director | Ecopreneur.eu


Simon Hombersley
CEO | Xampla
Simon Hombersley is the CEO of Xampla, which develops next generation plastics. Made entirely from plant protein, they are sustainable and scalable solutions for microplastics and single use applications. He has founded three further environmental impact start-ups, including energy efficient compressor company Lontra, where he is a Non-Exec Director.


Dr. Hamdy Khalil
Global Director of Corporate Research and Product Development | Woodbridge Foam Corporation,


Marko Kärkkäinen
Chief Commercial Officer - Global | Clewat Inc.


Rodrigo Tona
Chief Executive Officer | Termoencogibles S.A de C.C


Dr Tim van Emmerik
Assistant Professor River Plastic Monitoring | Wageningen University & Research


Marc Borghans
Director – Head of Sustainable Structured Finance | ING Wholesale Banking


Mark Lancelott
Sustainability and Circular Economy Lead | PA Consulting


Efrat Friedland
Founder | Materialscout
With training and experience in industrial design and a great passion for materials, Efrat
founded Materialscout, a Munich-based consultancy that helps market-leading
companies generate value through creative, competitive and sustainable
implementation of materials and technologies. It’s all about enthusiastically stirring
materials-driven processes, leading to products, spaces and services that have a
positive footprint; processes that take into account consumer tendencies, materials
sourcing, processing, implementation, emotional attachment and end usage with a
circular approach. Materialscout connects the materials industry with the creative
industry, linking suppliers, engineers, product managers, recyclers and designers to
solve materials challenges together.


Alice Beyer Schuch
Circular Fashion Change Agent | CIRKLA MODO


Waleed Nasir
Market Development Manager - Sustainability | DSM


Florence Miremadi-Nafici
Co-founder | Nafici Environmental Research (NER)


Monique Maissan
CEO and founder | Waste2wear
Monique Maissan is a Dutch entrepreneur and textile engineer specialized in Circular Economic solutions for the textile industry. As CEO and founder of Waste2Wear, she leads a committed team towards sustainable innovation using textile products made from recycled plastic to create positive environmental impact.
The innovations in her company, have been acknowledged through the following awards:
Entrepreneur the Year award 2012, in the USA from Enterprising Women; the Sustainability Award from the European Economic and Sustainability Committee in 2014; the Women Economic Forum’s Outstanding Women for the Advance of Sustainability award in 2017; The #1 Business Women Of Excellence award in Egypt in 2018; the She Rockers MyEO Women SDG Award 2019 from EO (Entrepreneur Organization); and the Personality of the Year award from the Benelux Chamber of Commerce. She was a finalist for the EY (Ernst & Young) Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 award.
One of the initiatives from Waste2Wear is the Ocean Plastics Program. In collaboration with the local Chinese government and NGO’s, Waste2Wear created a business model in which former fishermen could recover their income (lost due to environmental regulations) by fishing plastic from the ocean. They now collect more than three tons of waste directly from the ocean every week. Thus, Waste2Wear is pioneering solutions for plastic recycling and delivering 100% traceable and sustainable textiles.
She continuously strives to create collaborations with a broad diversity of stakeholders to help creating awareness and to find solutions to protect the environment. This includes collaborations with the Jane Goodall Institute, National Geographic and many more.
She is a frequent speaker at sustainability events around the globe, including, the 2015 EXCELerate Conference in Canada, the EWC Sustainability Summit at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in 2016, China’s World Creative Economy Summit in 2017, the Beyond Plastic Pollution conference in Australia in 2017, the Women for Success summit in 2018 at the Arab League and the APIC virtual conference on ‘Technologies & Solutions for Ocean Clean Up’ September 2020.


Todd Gasparik
Sustainable Material Advancements for the Packaging Industry | Smart Planet Technologies


Michael Colarossi
VP Product Line Management, Innovation and Sustainability, Apparel Solutions | Avery Dennison


Gerald Rebitzer
Senior Sustainability Director | Amcor


Paul Bjacek
Principal Director, Global Resources Research Lead | Accenture


Kenneth Darisaw
Manager - Energy & Sustainability | Fulton County


Ellis Kirby
Deputy Chief Operating Officer | Fulton County


Oliver Syed Shafaat
Manager, Fiber R&D Section | Spiber Inc


Sandeep Kulkarni
Polymer Science & Sustainable Packaging | Kool Earth Solutions Inc


Wil Schoenmakers
Global Head of Consumer Goods and Manufacturing | PA Consulting


Dr Vivek Tandon
Founder & CEO | perPETual Technologies
Dr Vivek Tandon is an experienced international entrepreneur with an extensive background in growing technology companies. He is the founder and CEO of perPETual Technologies, a company with a breakthrough environmental and cost-effective technology enabling the conversion of used plastic bottles into high-quality products including but not limited to filament textile yarns, BOPET film, packaging and bottles.


Philip Fawcus
Head of Sustainable Packaging and PulPac Lead | PA Consulting


Valerie Langer
Fibre Solutions Strategist | CanopyPlanet
Valerie Langer is the Fibre Solutions Strategist for non-profit environmental organization CanopyPlanet. Her focus is to accelerate commercial production of pulp and paper made with Next Generation alternative fibres. She has been engaged in forest conservation campaigns for over 30 years. Valerie pioneered the international market campaign strategy of influencing logging companies’ practices by engaging their commercial customer base and was a lead developer of the award-winning Great Bear Rainforest Ecosystem Based Management framework. Her work has directly contributed to the conservation of millions of hectares of biologically rich forest lands.


Giulio Bonazzi
President & CEO | Aquafil
Giulio Bonazzi has dedicated his career to evolving Aquafil S.p.A. into a leading player in the global carpet and textile materials industry. The company was founded by Bonazzi’s parents 50 years ago in Arco, Italy. An innovator and disruptor, he is transforming his family’s manufacturing business into a sustainable global enterprise. To achieve this vision, Bonazzi challenged the organization to develop a recycled nylon material by turning nylon trash into high-quality, beautiful fibres. Where others see waste, Bonazzi saw an opportunity. After several years of investment in R&D and a relentless pursuit of a new way to regenerate nylon, ECONYL® was born. Aquafil launched ECONYL® regenerated nylon in 2011 and today it is one of the most sought after materials in the world for fashion designers and carpet manufacturers.


Shelby Buso
Chief Sustainability Officer | City of Atlanta


Carlos Bosques
Vice President of R&D and Innovation | Evolved By Nature™


Renée Yardley
Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing | Sustana Group
Renée Yardley serves as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Sustana Group, the leader in sustainable, recycled fibers and paper products. She has more than two decades of experience in global organizations, including Tembec, CCM and General Motors, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and MBA from McGill University and an MA in General Management from Harvard University. Active in the Montreal community, Renée has served as president of Literacy Partners of Quebec and mentors MBA students at McGill.


John Van Leeuwen
CEO | Universal Matter Inc
John van Leeuwen is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Universal Matter Inc., a company based in Burlington, ON, Canada, that is commercializing a new production method to make graphene from carbon waste streams to attain a superior value proposition for large markets such as plastics, cement and concrete, asphalt, composites and coatings. John holds a strong personal commitment to environmental sustainability and is a life-long entrepreneur with a passion for building great companies that are powered by outstanding teams. Prior to co-founding Universal Matter, Mr. van Leeuwen co-founded EcoSynthetix and grew it from an idea to the largest Cleantech IPO in Toronto’s TSX history. Before that he led a venture capital organization, started up the North American operations of European software company Baan, and began his career in the plastics industry with Shell Chemicals and Monsanto. He graduated in 1981 from the University of Waterloo with a Honors Bachelor of Sciences degree in Applied Chemistry.


Meghan K. Olson
Business Development Lead, MycoComposite | Ecovative Design


Jan Dell
Independent Engineer | The Last Beach Cleanup


Michiel Scheffer
Program Manager Textile and Sustainability | Wageningen University & Research


Mark Sunderland
Chief Sustainability Officer | Hemp Black


Garry Kohl
Sr. Director R&D, Global Packaging Innovation for Snacks & Foods | PepsiCo


Scott Miller
Director, Business Development | The Sustainable Apparel Coalition


Vincent Doumeizel
Director Food Programme, LR Foundation & Senior Advisor United Nations Global Compact | Lloyds Register Foundation & United Nations


Julia Wetstein
Zero Waste Director US | Vegware Packaging, Inc
Julia Wetstein is the former Assistant Dean of Agriculture from Southern Illinois University. Since 2014, Julia has been the Zero Waste Director for Vegware Packaging, Inc, the US arm of the Vegware brand based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Julia is a member of the US Composting Council, serves on two working groups for Biodegradable Products Institute, BPI and is an advisor to the Compost Manufacturing Alliance. She had helped many US corporations implement zero-waste-to-landfill employee cafeterias.


Lucy Frankel
Environmental and Communications Director | Vegware


Stephanie Lavelle
Environmental consultant/Chair the Plastic Special Interest Group | Sea Sanctuaries Trust & IMarEST


Maria Westerbos
Director | Plastic Soup Foundation
Every year, DDB, an independent, journalistic website with news and opinions about philanthropy in the Netherlands, makes a list of the 100 most influential people in the world of donations and social investments. In the list for 2019, Maria Westerbos occupies place 19. DDB writes:
‘Marketing Animal. After a career of 25 years in the world of television, Maria Westerbos decided to alter her course. That was in 2009, when no one had yet heard of the plastic soup environmental disaster. The rest is history: an extraordinary growth of the Plastic Soup Foundation. In the slipstream of boy wonder Boyan Slat, Maria Westerbos, the flamboyant Director of the Plastic Soup Foundation, continues to demonstrate her perfect feel for (mass) marketing. She knows how to use traditional and new media to address the plastic soup issue in such a way that companies, governments and consumers all get into action.
In the Netherlands, DDB, also called the independent ‘atlas of philanthropy’, is a reliable guide in the dynamic market of an annual six billion euros of donations.


Lawrence Lenihan
Chairman and Co-Founder | Resonance Companies



Viirj Kan
CEO | Primitives Biodesign
Viirj Kan is the founder and CEO at Primitives Biodesign, where she directs product innovation and engineering. Primitives is a biotech startup that develops active and intelligent bioproducts to reduce net global warming potential, by reducing food waste and plastic pollution. Prior to founding Primitives Biodesign, she developed IoT and mobile computing products at Samsung Design Innovation Center, designed 3D human-robot interfaces at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and engineered programmable biomaterials at MIT. Her work has been recognized through the SXSW Interactive Innovation award, a Best Paper Award at the ACM SIGCHI, and Honorable Mention Awards at the International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC) and Fast Company Innovation by Design. Viirj holds a MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and BS from the Art Center College of Design.


Tricia Carey
Director Global Business Development - Denim at Lenzing Fibers | Lenzing Group


William Horner
Founder & President | Single Use Solutions


Sophie Mather
Material Futurist | Biov8tion
Sophie Mather, Material Futurist and founder of biov8tion, inspires and facilitates sustainable material disruption across the textile industry, working collaboratively to unlock fresh opportunities. Sophie’s work brings strategy, vision, deep technical expertise and a vast network gained from two decades of cross-industry, on the ground experience in Europe, USA and Asia.
Bringing a distinct ability to demystify complex ideas, challenges and technologies, she enables big-thinking values-led leaders, to think boldly, act responsibly and capture commercial opportunities. Sophie’s cross-industry, global clients, partners and audiences include world renowned brands and retailers, government sector supply chain, academia and non-profit organisations.
Over the last decade, a selection of the work Sophie has delivered through the biov8tion platform has included driving the topic of microfibre release from clothing, via founding roles in #DontFeedTheFish and The Microfibre Consortium, the facilitation, development and leadership of Textile Exchange’s BioSynthetics working group and design and development of WRAP’s Clothing Knowledge Hub.
Prior to founding biov8tion, Sophie served as Global Director of Advanced Materials for Nike USA, following roles in innovation for Nike Asia. Focusing on sustainability and innovation, she regularly challenges and inspires audiences via conferences, media and keynote speaking, expert commentary, mentoring and lecturing.


Bruno Perira
Chief Sustainability Officer | BioLogiQ


Ruth Farrell
Global Marketing Director, Textiles | Eastman


Branson Richie
Director, Technology Development & Implementation | New Materials Institute, University of Georgia


Beth Cormier
Vice President Research, Development and Sustainability | Sappi North America


Tyler Whale
VP Agriculture | BioFusion
Tyler has extensive experience in agriculture, academia, technology commercialization, entrepreneurship and network development. Raised in dairy farming, he has earned a PhD (immunology) and an MBA, founded 2 companies and helped to optimize the potential of many innovative ventures in agri-tech. Tyler’s focus with BioFusion’s technology is to create game-changing progress through a commercial and technology based lens.


Martin Ekenbark
Project Manager - Circular Innovation LAB | H&M Group
Martin started his innovation journey at the royal school of technology in Stockholm and has since then worked with mechanical engineering and material development for both IKEA and H&M. After building up and heading the engineering department within global expansion he joined the H&M group global sustainability department last year to help build up the Circular Innovation Lab.


David Newman
Managing Director | Bio-based and Biodegradable Industries Association (BBIA)


Nicole Rycroft
Founder and Executive Director | Canopy


Kilian P. Hochrein
Product Stewardship, Fabrics Divison | W.L.Gore & Associates


Delphine Lévi Alvarès
European Coordinator of the #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement and Coordinator of the 'Rethink Plastic' Alliance | Zero Waste Europe


Kristy-Barbara Lange
Head of Public Affairs | APK AG
Kristy-Barbara Lange is Head of Public Affairs at APK AG an innovative recycling company from Merseburg, Germany. Kristy is responsible for stakeholder management, communications and strategic cooperations. Before joining APK in March 2020 she worked nearly 10 years for European Bioplastics as Head of Regulatory Affairs and Deputy Managing Director. Prior to her engagement in the bioplastics sector, she managed PA and PR projects in international agencies with a focus on infrastructure and (renewable) energy. Kristy holds a Master of Political Sciences from Heidelberg University, Germany.


Patrik Lundström
CEO | Renewcell
Mr. Lundström is an experienced industrial executive that joined re:newcell as CEO in 2019, having previously served as Chairman of the Board of Directors at the company. He has lead numerous industrial growth projects in executive positions at companies such as DSM and General Electric both in Sweden and internationally. Mr. Lundström holds an M Sc in Chemical Engineering from KTH and an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics.


Jane Muncke
Managing Director and Chief Scientific Officer | Food Packaging Forum


Michael Delle Selve
Senior Communications Manager | FEVE – The European Container Glass Federation


Hanna de la Motte
Research Manager | Mistra Future Fashion


Linus Mueller
IP/R&D Coordinator | Circular Systems


Johannes Musseleck
Director Global Strategy and Regulatory Affairs | Ineos Styrolution


Christian Crépet
Executive Director | PETCORE Europe


Dr Gayatri Keskar
Head of Research | Material ConneXion


Ralf Ponicki
Director UPM Formi | UPM Biocomposites


Helmut Schmitz
Director of Communication & Public Affairs | Der Grüne Punkt – Duales System Holding GmbH


Nicole Bendsen
Secretariat of the PREVENT Waste Alliance | GIZ
Nicole Bendsen has been working for GIZ in international development cooperation for nearly ten years. In her current position, as secretariat of the PREVENT Waste Alliance, she coordinates a network of over 85 member organisations from civil society, academia and both the private and public sectors. The members of PREVENT have committed to jointly work towards a functioning circular economy, especially in low- and middle-income countries. As a zero waste advocate, Nicole is dedicated to finding long-term solutions to the growing waste problem worldwide- both professionally and in her personal life.


Stuart Hayward-Higham
Technical Development Director | Suez


Andy Sweetman
Sales & Marketing Manager | Futamura


Karin Molenveld
Expertise leader Sustainable Plastics Technology | Wageningen Food & Biobased Research


Beth Simpson
Senior Consultant in Waste & Resource Sustainability | Anthesis Group


Ramani Narayan
Proffessor, Department of Chemical Engineering & Material Science | Michigan State University


Karolina Brabcova
Plastics and toxic chemicals expert | Arnika Association


Miriam Gallur
Materials and Packaging Area Manager at ITENE | ITENE


Dr Christian Haessler
SVP & Head of Circular Economy Program | Covestro


Tara Luckman
Sustainable Fashion Consultant | Flourish CSR


Henry le Fleming
Assistant Director, Sustainability and Climate Change | Sustainability Analytics


Prof María Carmen Garrigós
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition & Food Sciences | University of Alicante


Anna Preut
Researcher | Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML


Hans-Josef Endres
Institute Director | Institut fur Kunststoff-und Kreislauftechnik


Richard Ali
Vice President Public Affairs | Huhtamaki


Liesl Truscott
Director - Europe and Materials Strategy | Textile Exchange


Douglas Johnson-Poensgen
Founder & CEO | Circulor
Douglas Johnson-Poensgen is co-founder and CEO of Circulor (www.circulor.com)
Circulor is using blockchain, IoT and AI to bring transparency to raw materials supply chains and is a recent graduate of the PnP programme in Silicon Valley. Now three years old, the business has customers like Daimler, Volvo, Boeing, LG Chem and CATL.
Doug has 25 years international experience working both in MD roles for large corporates (Barclays, BT) as well as starting and growing companies (Snapdragon, ISD, Cadence). He started his career as a bomb disposal officer.
Outside work he is a keen cyclist, oenophile and over-enthusiastic early adopter of gadgets.


Professor Shachar Richter
Professor | Tel-Aviv University & JellyBand


Volker Krümpel
VGeneral Counsel and Compliance Officer | Minespider


Birgit Klockenhoff
Project Engineer Advanced Materials, | Daimler


Inna Knelsen
Sustainability system manager | ISCC System GmbH


Dr. Antje Lieske
Head of Department Polymer Synthesis | Fraunhofer IAP


Dr. Stephan Kabasci
Head of Department Bio-Based Plastics | Fraunhofer UMSICHT


Julian Reuter
Managing Director & Co-founder | out for space


Andreas Jenne
Head of Sustainability | REHAU Group


Raphael Bardet
Head of Business Line, Food | Ahlstrom-Munksjo


Sascha Schriever
Head of Chemical Technologies for Textile and Fibre Innovations | ITA Technologietransfer GmbH - ITA Institute of RWTH Aachen


Fanya Ismail
CEO | SGMA (Sol-Gel Coatings & Advanced Materials Ltd)


Wilma Kleefsmann
Global Strategy Director | Waste2wear


Ke Wang
Knowledge Lead | Platform for Accelerating The Circular Economy (PACE)


Bettina Siggelkow
Program Manager EcoCircle | Clariant


Paul Gilligan
Co-founder/Director | Magical Mushroom Co


Niels van Marle
Packaging Expert | Netherlands Institute of Sustainable Packaging (KIDV)


Sanjay Patel
Founding Partner | The Packaging Collective


Jack (Tato) Bigio
Co-Founder, Israel CEO | UBQ Materials


Dr Thomas Stegmaier
Department head and deputy head of the institute | Centre of Excellence Technical Textiles Denkendorf (DITF)


Dr Raquel Prado
Sustainability and Research Manager | Ananas Anam


Dr Laura Gottardo
Team Leader - Fibres, Filaments and Felts - Research & Technology | Autoneum Management AG


Bas Froon
Co-Founder | Unseam & 3D Jellyfish Leather


Oliver Ehlert
Product Manager | DIN CERTCO Society for Conformity Assessment mbH


Erwin Vink
Senior Sustainability Manager | NatureWorks


Sophie Mather
Managing Director | The Microfiber Consortium
As a reputable thought leader on Sustainable Innovation, Sophie Mather, co-founder and Managing Director of The Microfibre Consortium* (TMC) brings a depth of first-hand experience, innovative thinking and network to the industry challenge of fibre fragmentation release within the clothing industry.
Compelled by her textile engineering curiosity to understand the trigger causing fibre release,
she crowdfunded early research in 2016 which drew the attention of many brands, retailers and suppliers. This enabled founding funding from The European Outdoor Group this later spun out into a standalone non-profit organisation in 2018 and now operates TMC with around 40 outdoor, sport, fashion and home textile brand members. TMC facilitates the development of practical solutions for the textile industry to minimise fibre fragmentation release to the environment from textile manufacturing and product life cycle.
Sophie is a renowned and inspirational speaker delivering thought provoking ideas and challenging
her audiences from platforms such as the TEDx stage, UK parliamentary forums, industry
conferences and most recently to HRH The Prince of Wales.
*Founded by the Outdoor Industry, executing within Outdoor, Sport, Fashion and Home


Anne Uusitalo
Product Safety and Sustainability Director | MetsaBoard


Thomas Bak Thellesen
Director Group Sustainability & External Affairs | Faerch Group


Jeremiah Dutton
Head of Sales & Marketing | Trifilon AB


Dr. Dennis Bankmann
Global Business Development Manager Circular Economy | Henkel


Larry Logan
Chief Evangelist | Digimarc GmbH
Larry Logan enjoys more than 30 years’ success in marketing and creativity, repeatedly developing brands that become industry leaders. He is currently the Chief Evangelist at Digimarc Corporation, the inventor of the imperceptible Digimarc Barcode identifier for all types of media. In that role, Mr. Logan is leading the company’s efforts to create a new standard for the automatic identification of plastics, through a form of technology described generically as digital watermarking. By giving each plastic object its own unique identity that can be discovered by scanning equipment in a recycling facility, industry will seek to achieve increased quality and quantity of yields of recyclates to meet the sustainability targets of manufacturers, dual system and facility operators, and government agencies. Among his industry awards and recognition, The World Brand Congress has named Mr. Logan among the 100 Most Influential Global Marketing Leaders. In his previous career in Hollywood, he is the recipient of over 75 Gold and Platinum records in entertainment industry marketing campaigns.


Trevor Davis
Head of Marketing Consumer Products | Borealis AG


David Rüßmann
Manager Circular Economy | Tomra Sorting GmbH


Marcel Arsand
Head of Sustainability for Ball Beverage Packaging EMEA | Ball Beverage Packaging Europe


Andreas Grabitz
Business Unit Manager Packaging Materials | Eurofins Consumer Product Testing GmbH


Dirk Wens
President | Belgian BioPackaging Association (BBP)


Christian Lenges
Business Development BioMaterials | DuPont Industrial Biosciences


Lucienne Damm
Senior Environmental Manager | TUI Cruises


Lara Dammer
Head of Department Economy & Policy | nova-Institute


Michael Carus
Founder and managing director | nova-Institute


Mauro Scalia
Director Sustainable Businesses | The European Apparel and Textile Confederation (EURATEX)


Joachim Kircher
Senior Consultant | Denkstatt GmbH


Jenni Kärkkäinen
Principal, Packaging | AFRY (Formerly known as Pöyry)


Eric Vogel
CMO | NAECO
Eric Vogel launched his first IT and creative start-up while at university. After this Eric went on to perform a global leadership role at Google managing and developing onshore and offshore teams across Europe and Asia. He single-handedly built a team from 3 to over 400 across the EMEA region. Eric has a proven track record in leading global campaigns and business development programs for start-ups and technology enterprises. Including handling global campaigns for the likes of The FA, Nationwide, Oracle, and O2 Telefonica. With one successful Eric’s entrepreneurial spirit and drive is evidenced in the technology and creative startups he has built or participated in and his passion for innovative startups.