Michael Nettersheim is a co-founder and managing partner of the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund. Previously, Michael was in charge of bioeconomy related investments at BASF Venture Capital, which he joined from High-Tech Gruenderfonds in Bonn, Germany. He started his career at a publicly listed biotech company in Munich where he was responsible for corporate finance and investor relations. Michael Nettersheim studied Chemistry at the University of Bonn, where he was awarded a doctorate in Biochemistry. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Kellogg-WHU Executive MBA Program and is a Certified Biotech Analyst for the German Association of Financial Analysis and Asset Management.

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Jonas Hohlweck holds a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Hamburg and the University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg. A self-proclaimed “Lego kid,” he is drawn to disassembling and analyzing complex challenges at the intersection of technology and business.
Born in Germany, he gained international experience with multinational companies in the USA and Australia. After working in logistics, renewable energies and medical technology, Jonas spent three and a half years supporting clients as a management consultant. His main focus was on digital innovation and transformation as well as sustainability, especially in the area of strategic sourcing. Following his passion for innovation and sustainability, he joined Siemens SiGREEN in 2021 as Head of Business Development to drive decarbonization by making the carbon footprint of products actionable.

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Lara M. Stamm is sales engineer at Protarget AG and in this role responsible for the acquisition of solar process heat projects, creation of business models and the application of international funding programs.

Lara is an industrial engineer with a focus on mechanical engineering. Before joining Protarget in Oct. 2021, she has worked five years in the banking sector as a project manager, specialising in sales financing, cross-border transactions and financing agreements.

Dirk Krüger is an Energy Engineer, employed as a researcher by DLR in its Institute of Solar Research since 1997. He is specialised in solar process heat generation with concentrating collectors.

He has advised and accompanied industrial partners in the development of their parabolic trough collectors and developed a facility where he performed efficiency testing, characterisation and optimisation of a variety of parabolic trough collectors.

For DLR he has coordinated various national and European projects of which several were related to the integration of solar heat into industrial structures.

Juliane Hinsch is Managing Director of the German Association for Concentrated Solar Power (DCSP). Before, the Economist with proven competence in international sustainable energy markets & business promotion has been for many years Head of the Coordination Office of the German Energy Solutions Office, an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. She gained international experience as Project Leader RE & EE at the German Chamber of Commerce in Italy and studying in Australia and Spain.

JUUL CUIJPERS is a Dutch national graduated at the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands with a Masters in Chemical Engineering and Polymer Technology.
Juul has a passion for innovation and motivated to bring new solutions to the market. He is both an enthusiast and optimist. A common driver to the innovations he works on is that it should be worthwhile and that is must have a more positive impact; to people, the environment and on our planet compared to what is out there already today.
Juul currently works for Sappi Biotech as Product Manager for Sappi Symbio, a natural cellulose fibre to reinforce thermoplastics and bio-based polymers.

Veronika specialises in corporate carbon footprinting and data analysis. She works across multiple sectors to help companies set science-based targets, measure the carbon impact across their value chain, and develop comprehensive, bespoke carbon reduction strategies. She has particular expertise working with companies in the ICT sector, including AT&T, BT, Verizon and Vodafone, where she has supported them on their net positive calculations and methodology development.

Veronika has an MSc in Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment from University College London. She is fluent in both German and English.

Komal is a climate and sustainability professional with over 15 years of experience in the design and implementation of climate and development projects that contribute toward global climate goals, while creating socio-economic benefits for marginalized communities.

Over the last few years, Komal has focused on addressing the plastic challenge and inequality issues across the entire plastic value chain. She has worked on the development of plastic accounting and reduction tools, implementation of plastic waste management projects, creation of social programs for marginalized informal waste workers, and on strategic partnerships to bolster the integrity of plastic credits.
In the past, she engaged with Verra as a member of the Plastic Standard Development Committee (PSDC) and Plastic Program Advisory Group (PPAG) and has also been the technical lead for the development of Verra’s Plastic Waste Collection Methodology.

At Verra as the Director of Plastic and Sustainable Development Policy and Markets, Komal leads on all aspects of policy engagement and market development relating to Verra’s existing programs in plastics and sustainable development (i.e., Plastic Program, CCB Program and SD VISta).

Dr Paul Servin leads the research and development within Xeros, a green technology company inventing visible solutions for the invisible issues facing our planet. Current research focuses on developments for the textiles industries, as well as looking at wasted resources and how we can better make use of these. Paul and his team have developed our current technologies for Filtration, Care and Finish – technologies that deliver reduced water, energy, chemistry and pollution in laundry and textile applications. Paul’s most proud moment was when one of his products was launched to the International Space Station for testing. He is passionate about the environment and preserving the planet for the future.

Christian Cullinane is the Manager Director, Consumer Products for Xeros, a green technology company inventing visible solutions for the invisible issues facing our planet. One of the key products in his portfolio is their Filtration technology. He currently focuses his efforts on achieving the adoption of XF1, a microfibre filtration device for domestic washing machines, designed to stop microplastic pollution from our laundry reaching our oceans. Christian’s expertise crosses commercialisation, patents, driving legislative change and the microplastic landscape. He is an enthusiastic outdoor sportsman having undertaken numerous ultra-marathons and expeditions and is committed to the preservation of our environment.  

With 15 years of international experience in the Premium and/or Sustainable Fashion business, Ietje Klaver’s experiences range from Buying fabrics at Chanel to opening new markets and positioning emerging and sustainable brands, such as Ecoalf. She has a deep understanding of the Fashion industry and how a brand is perceived through its different touchpoints. Working for small companies allowed her to intervene in different departments and define strategies and processes. But more than anything, those experiences taught her to think outside the box. In her current position as Head of Operations and Special Projects at PYRATEX® these experiences are put to use piloting projects to improve the scalability and competitiveness of the company

Dirk is the Managing Director of Noventiz Group, Cologne

and has been active in the  PRO (in Germany: duales Systeme) business and waste management services since 1992

Like RLG Noventiz is part of the Reconomy Group (UK), an innovative tech-led provider of circular-economy focused services, active in more than 70 countries.

Andreas Wade is Head of Sustainability at Viessmann since September 2021. Focus areas include the implementation and evolution of the companies sustainability strategy towards decarbonisation of heating and cooling, circularity and product stewardship as well as sector coupling at all scales to achieve a just transformation. Andreas brings fifteen years of experience in the photovoltaic industry, where he has helped to enable a global sustainability framework in his roles as Global Sustainability Director for First Solar, president of PVthin and long standing chair of the sustainability workstream of SolarPower Europe. Leading the industry through the Product Environmental Footprint pilot phase, he helped to establish the industries first sustainability leadership standard. Prior to the photovoltaic industry, he made his first forays into the energy sector with Shell Exploration and Production in the UK and the Netherlands, where he worked on energy efficiency improvements, emissions reductions and carbon mitigation. Andreas began his professional career with UNESCO as an Associate Expert on Recycling in the cluster office for the GCC in Doha, Qatar. He has an environmental engineering
background and holds a Master of Engineering degree from the Clausthal University of Technology, Germany.

Dr. Clement Denis obtained a Materials Engineering degree from Université de Technologie de Troyes (France). He also has an MSc in Microsystems and Nanotechnology from Cranfield University.

Clement’s PhD is in Materials Chemistry from University College London. His PhD thesis focused on the synthesis of nanomaterials and the control of their size/morphology using continuous hydrothermal reactors. Prior to joining the NIRI team, Clement worked within industrial R&D roles, gaining experience in scale-up, process improvement and introduction of new products to manufacturing lines.

Vinko Avguštin, Director of R&D at Elans winter division, is for more than 22 years leading the innovation and innovative processes of designing skis which are 100% handcrafted in Slovenian Alps. Elan prides itself with extremely efficient supply chain – 99% of raw materials are originating in EU, 70% in a radius of 400 km from company’s headquarters and is using 100 % electricity from renewable sources. Vinko Avguštin is the brain behind the first folding ski for army use (Ibex Tactix) and first folding commercial ski called Voyager. Him and his team have been granted worldwide patents for more than 10 of their innovation projects and have created breakthrough products as Fusion (integrated binding system), Waveflex technology, Amphibio left and right ski technology, U-Flex (junior ski that is 25% more flexible and allows children to ski on their edge) and many more.

He is passionate about the environment and preserving the planet and his out of the box thinking has been invaluable in waste and footprint reduction. In 2016 his idea and development of digital print has reduced the emission of volatile organic waste for more than 32 tons. With his team he has also developed world’s most waste efficient production technology of skis, the so-called sock technology, and is currently working on productive reuse of recycled fiberglass waste.

Claudia is a Senior Materials Researcher at Materially, former Material ConneXion Italia. She is part of the Materials Research & Innovation Team and works on consulting projects in the field of innovative and sustainable materials, processes and technologies.

Her activities include Scouting, Design and Material Trends, Materials Development and she has worked for national and international clients operating in the industry branches of apparel and accessories, architecture and building, automotive, consumer electronics andp roducts, eyewear, furniture, footwear, interior and lighting design, medical, packaging and print, sports equipment and technical garments. She is also a contributor to the ideation of material databases and is involved in Materially’s educational services and EU-funded projects.

Veronica developed her expertise in communication and dissemination of EU-funded knowledge-transfer and research projects in the past 7 years at Materially, former Material ConneXion Italia. Her active involvement as communication and project manager in previous and ongoing international initiatives provides her with updated knowledge about design-driven material innovation, knowledge-transfer methodologies and tools, research and innovation in sustainable material solutions and design for a circular economy. In the GRETE project, she oversees the overall communication and dissemination activities, translating the research content into broadly accessible information for the direct stakeholders of the textile industry, and beyond.

Dalena White is a spokesperson for the Make the Label Count (MTLC) coalition and the Secretary General of the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO). She has more than 20 years’ experience in clothing design, textile manufacturing, merchandising and product sourcing for fashion retail. She served as a board member of a clothing factory for 6 years, before joining the wool industry in 2008. She managed brand developments for South African Merino wool products, including styling, wool textile innovation and marketing projects with retail partners.

Stefan Rüster is a senior sustainability expert of Beiersdorf with over 20+ years of gained packaging skills.  He worked as packaging engineer, project manager and as innovation manager all the time challenging the status quo. Last year’s success was the implementation of recycled materials for the usage of cosmetic products. He is a passioned ambassador driving the packaging transformation from Design for recycling to real circularity. Sustainability starts with us!

René Bethmann graduated in Textile and Apparel Technology and has worked for several leading brands across Europe in the field of product and material management. Currently he´s working at VAUDE as Senior Innovation Manager, managing innovation processes and related projects about material and joining technologies with strong focus on biopolymers and recycling strategies. Furthermore, since 2020 he is a consultant of the VAUDE Academy for Sustainable Management. He is a proven global speaker in the topics of bioeconomy, circular economy, and innovative material technologies with over 15 years’ experience in the Sports industry.

Jan Hommen studied Industrial Engineering at the University of Applied Science in Koblenz. After completing his Bachelor’s Degree in 2019, he went on to complete a Master’s Degree in 2019. His Master’s Thesis was done in partnership with TOMRA and focused on advanced mechanical recycling processes and is the result of half a year’s active work in an Advanced Mechanical Recycling facility in Germany.

Jan joined TOMRA’s Circular Economy Division in 2021 and currently serves as an engineer, concentrating on New Plastics Applications. In his role, he explores the market for recycling opportunities that lead to closing the loop for plastics and to achieving a Circular Economy.

Dr Rolph Payet is an international policy expert, researcher and speaker on environment, climate and island issues, and was the first president & vice-chancellor of the University of Seychelles. He was Minister of Environment and Energy in the Cabinet of Seychelles from 2012 to 2014. He is currently United Nations Executive Secretary for the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. Dr Payet has received numerous international awards and recognition for his work on islands, climate change, tertiary education and biodiversity. He is known for his ability to bring together the various disciplines – natural science, economics and business – to innovate solutions for environmental issues. His research in sustainable tourism and climate change continue to benefit numerous tourism developments in Seychelles and elsewhere.

Lauren Johnson is the Global Sustainability, Product Stewardship, and Regulatory Leader at CovationBio. She works closely with internal teams and external partners to build and execute CovationBio’s sustainability strategy and goals, support customers along their sustainability trajectories, and ensure CovationBio products comply with the growing list of chemical regulations and requirements globally. She has over 10 years of experience in sustainability, innovation, and strategy in the chemicals industry and received a B.S. in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry from the University of Tennessee.

Pauline is leads the client team for the Carbon Trust Europe. As part of this role she ensures that the clients the Carbon Trust work with are aligned to our mission and helps them progress their journey to Net Zero. She does this through providing strategic advice to clients through stakeholder engagement. Pauline is also the Carbon Trust’s lead on fashion, helping the industry overcome multiple challenges including resource constraints, supply chain transparency and their need to adopt business model innovation. Pauline has an MA in International Relations from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc with distinction in Environmental Policy and Regulations from the London School of Economics.

In his current role, Reinier focuses on building up partnerships to supply feedstocks for Eastman’s new molecular recycling facility in France. The facility will use hard-to-recycle waste in place of fossil-based resources to create new materials, as part of the company’s efforts to enable a true circular economy.
During his career, Reinier has worked 30+ years in the plastics industry, gaining deep knowledge about masterbatches, compounds, and resins across different market segments and applications.
Reinier has a commercial background and holds an EMBA from IMD, Switzerland.

Cyril is a CEO and founder at Cyrkl.com – green-tech startup and trading platform with focus on circularity in waste management. In the European biggest recycling platform one waste could be a wealth for another and when using machine learning Cyrkl can manage the right match. Cyril has long been focused on meaningful innovations, especially in the circular economy. He received awards for a Global Digital Disruption by Globent and was selected among top innovators in Czechia for a year 2020.  He stood behind three publications Circular Czech Republic 1,2 and 3. Previously Cyril worked as an innovation leader in the Direct People, leading Czech innovation agency and before as a manager responsible for the corporate part of innovation at Raiffeisenbank, where he co founded Raiffeisen Advisory. He is a graduate of the University of Economics, where he continued to his doctoral studies.

Luke’s professional mission is to collaborate with and empower material scientists, manufacturing workers and engineers, investors, change-makers, creators, and brands around the world to create a fully circular and sustainable material economy from the ground up.   

Luke earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Iowa before going on to explore all-natural alternatives to petroleum-derived plastics as an Assistant Research Professor at the US Naval Academy. His vision to develop bio-neutral, high-performance materials from renewable natural nutrient inputs has become the foundation for NFW’s ecosystem of patented, paradigm-shifting material technologies.   

In an industry awash with incremental solutions, Luke is leading NFW to drive a moonshot systems-level shift away from petroleum-derived products and toxic chemistries. Luke is an Unreasonable Group Fellow, Forbes Council Member, and World Economic Forum (WEF) Technology Pioneer, and member of The Circulars Accelerator. 

Max Rehberger is an industrial engineer with a background in Life cycle assessment / Material flow analysis of emerging technologies. After positions in sustainability research institutes in Kassel and Ulm, Germany he joined TÜV SÜD in the departments of advanced manufacturing and now sustainability services. He is leading global innovation projects in the field of verifying sustainability information from a third-party view with the aim on ensuring truthful and standards-based claims on product sustainability.

Trained industrial designer with a great passion for materials, Efrat is the founder of materialscout, a Munich-based consultancy that helps market-leading companies generate value through creative, competitive and sustainable implementation of materials and technologies. Focusing on consumer tendencies, materials sourcing, processing, implementation, emotional attachment and end usage with a circular approach, materialscout connects the materials industry with the creative industry. Efrat is also the co-founder of Positive Plastics, a toolbox and platform for designers, introducing them to commercially available polymers with a lower environmental impact

Plantics B.V. is a spin-off from the University of Amsterdam and develops Superior Natural Materials, based on a unique group of 100% biobased thermoset resins. Together with partner Vepa, Plantics was elected as winner of the global innovation award ‘Renewable Material of the Year 2021’.
Martijn holds a history of commercial and managerial roles in multinational and SME companies, combining business with sustainability. His focus in Plantics is on further commercializing 100% biobased materials that, amongst other things, are an alternative for fossil-based plastics.

Marcel is a well-versed environmental engineer with degrees in Sociology (B.A.), Environmental Protection Engineering (B.Sc) and Energy & Facility Management ( M.Sc.)

Marcel has been with PYREG for over 10 years. He began his career in sales and marketing at PYREG in 2012. His broad knowledge of various market segments, such as agriculture, the municipal sector and industry, have provided him with valuable insight into the real-world application of pyrolysis / carbonization technology and its numerous benefits, including biochar, renewable energy and carbon credits.

Applying his extensive experience in both the process and the application of PYREG NetZero carbonization technology, Marcel has been serving as the Company’s Head of Technical Sales since 2020.

Marcel has a strong personal passion for sustainability and decarbonization of our Planet, one that his 14-month-old son and future siblings can inherit and enjoy, for generations to come.

Volker Muche is co-owner and managing director of pacoon Sustainability Concepts GmbH.
He studied packaging technology at the former Technische Fachhoschule Berlin and is also a trained systemic change manager since 2016.
His previous professional experience includes the consumer goods sector as well as the packaging production sector at an internationally active cardboard and folding carton manufacturer. Since the beginning of the 2000s, Volker Muche has been working as a packaging consultant, and later as a partner, at a packaging agency in Hamburg, where he first became involved in the topic of sustainability in the packaging environment. The topic of sustainability and packaging is complex and characterized by interdisciplinary compromises – valid customer support in the direction of “packaging and sustainability” requires a clear focus on the topic. This was the motivation to found the new business unit pacoon sustainability soncept in Hamburg together with pacoon design + strategie in 2021

Sustainability specialist at Berbrand: with a deep focus on blockchain and innovative technologies for sustainability, he elaborates new strategies to reach the zero emissions and circular economy targets through the development of technology-based solutions for sustainability and auditing. Since 2021 he is member of the UNFCCC Working Group for the development of a roadmap for energy efficiency and renewable energy scalability

Anna works with global and multi-national companies to deliver sustainable production and consumption. During her three years at Anthesis, she has worked on a variety of projects within the circular economy. Projects include waste and recycling assessments, downstream waste interventions and sustainable packaging through alternative material use, reduction, and ultimately enabling a change in downstream waste management, moving material up the waste hierarchy.
Most recently, Anna worked on a project with Microsoft and 10 other companies from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Network, including Cisco, BASF, CHEP and others, looking at alternatives for B2B pallet stretch wrap materials.

Stanley Mitchell came to Xampla from a background in consulting where he worked with a range of multinational corporations to develop and deploy cutting edge technologies across a diverse range of sectors including healthcare, FMCG, oil & gas, and aerospace. Stanley has managed and developed key relationships across the biotechnology and Cambridge start-up space.

Jeroen van der Wind is an entrepreneur, with three decades of experience specializing in international trade with South East Asia. He has extensive experience working in the textile and promotional industries. Through Jeroen’s leadership skills he has re-organized different companies and implemented systems to support these businesses. His experience has taught him that clear processes and structures are key to improving commercial success, and satisfaction.
Jeroen is passionate about sustainability and is a cohesive force within Waste2Wear improving efficiencies and further strengthening the teams. In combination with a healthy business drive, he is determined to help further the Waste2Wear mission of relieving the planet of the plastic problem by innovating products made from recycled plastics using traceable and transparent supply chains.
As a family man, his goal is to help reduce plastic consumption in order to create a better world and a brighter future for all of us, but especially his four adult children.
For more information contact [email protected] or check out www.waste2wear.com

Tamsin Lishman is an experienced Executive from the energy and industrial sector and brings a track record of building high performing businesses and leading incredible teams. In her role as Chief Revenue Officer, Tamsin leads the business development and growth activities of ENERGYNEST as the company moves from a successful clean tech start-up to a leading business in the energy transition and decarbonisation of industrial heat.

Before joining ENERGYNEST, Tamsin held senior and executive roles at BP, Centrica and NWG including developing low carbon services for industrial consumers and heading up long range energy storage business development. Tamsin joined from NWG, where she was Executive Asset Director leading a team covering the full lifecycle of industrial assets including engineering, capital projects, maintenance and asset intelligence. She was previously Asset Director for Spirit Energy, where she led a turnaround of business performance and change in culture.

She has a first class degree in Engineering from Oxford University and is a Fellow of the Energy Institute.