Speakers
Alessandra Funcia
Alessandra Funcia is Global Head of Marketing and Head of Sales EMEA at Sukano AG, with almost 20 years of experience working in leading global & regional roles at multinational companies focused on the color and additives masterbatches business, she is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of market strategies and communication activities, with a focus on specialty resins, polyesters recyclability, and biodegradable plastics.
Alessandra is a yoga practitioner, a nature lover and local communities supporter. In her free time, she also acts as an environmental activist using science-based approaches to set priorities and promote impactful changes in our daily life.
Alycia Purcell
Alycia is the CEO of the Brussels based, sustainability startup Pilario. She has a background building software companies across Europe and Australia, and an education in Sustainable Development.
Anna Horecica-Csiki
Technological Engineer with +16 years in the PET packaging business. Anna joined SIPA in 2008 managing complex projects for key accounts across multiple continents. As a Project Leader and Product Manager, she worked with cross-functional teams to develop state-of-the-art linear and rotary stretch-blow molding machines, as well as a comprehensive range of injection systems with a special focus on sustainability and environmentally friendly solutions.
Antonello Ciotti
Antonello has a long-term story as Dow Plastic employee in different roles mainly in the PET business as Equipolymers Global Commercial Director and in plastic recycling as Sr. Business Development Director EMEAI in Dow Plastics & Specialty Plastic. Antonello is Past President and at present Board Member in Corepla, the Italian EPR scheme for plastic packaging recycling.
Argiris Dabanlis
Argiris Dabanlis holds the position of PETCORE Europe Technical Manager since September 2021. In parallel he is the General Secretary of EPBP (European Pet Bottle Platform) and TCEP (Trays Circularity Evaluation Platform)
He possesses MEng (1983), MSc (2007), MBA (2018), has technical, and executive business background experience.
Argiris started his career at Petzetakis – Pipelife plastic pipe industry and then, he moved to FMCG area.
He worked for Coca-Cola Hellenic in Greece and Armenia and then, moved to The Coca-Cola Company, holding senior technical position for Central-Southeastern Europe Business Unit, for more than 26 years.
Bastiaan Schupp
Benny Mermans
VP, Sustainability, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company and Chairman
Bernd Schwarz
Bernd is General Manager for the DACH region in KÖR Group and project manager for the NIAS ordering platform LABS, provided by KÖR. Bernd is holding an engineering degree in applied chemistry with specialization in analytical chemistry. Bernd has held several managerial roles at large TIC companies over the last 25+ years and managed several business lines and laboratories. He joined KÖR in October 2021.
Bernhard Heisel
Carolina Gregorio
Carolina Gregorio holds since beginning 2022 the position of EMEA Regional Business Sustainability Director for Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics business. She has in depth experience in plastics and currently leads our sustainability external engagement on plastics issues, both climate and circularity policies, including extended value chain engament activities. She is part of Europen board since mid 2023 and is the main Dow representative in key trade business associations in Europe such as Plastics Europe, Ceflex, RCI, AEPW…
She joined Dow back in 2007 and since then held several commercial and marketing roles in the Packaging & Specialty Plastics business, including global project leader for some Dow’s packaging innovation platform targeting value creation across markets and applications. She has elaborated the marketing strategy for Dow’s bio-based offering and has been leading its implementation globally.
Carolina holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Santiago de Compostela University in Spain and an Executive MBA from EAE Business School. She is finalizing the LEAP program by WBCSD focused on women leadership in sustainability, in partnership with Yale University and ESADE Business School.
Casper van den Dungen
Casper is more than 30 years active in PET recycling. He started as mechanical engineer with a specialization in Plastic processing. Takes the responsibility of Poly Recycling since 2000. Worked in multiple concepts to make a food grade RPET.
Experienced in all RPET applications. Jointly founded the European Plastics Recyclers Association, EuPR, in 1997, which now is called Plastics Recyclers Europe(PRE).
Being vice President of PRE(EuPR) and chairman of Working Group PET since. Jointly founded in 2008 the EPBP and became member of the Steering board and the Technical committee until 2023. Since 2013 represented in PETCORE Europe in Technical committee and BoD. Recyclass and Eucertplast activities are 2 developments which contribute to improve the route to circularity. In 2023 he initiated as WG Nias the Labs platform to create the Nias databank program.
Since 2018 Poly Recycling AG belongs to the Resilux companies which is growing in its recycling subsidiaries. PET recycling is since more than 30 year his work and his hobby.
César Aliaga
Christian Crepet
With a commercial and executive business management background, Christian-Yves Crépet started his career with Dow Chemical and went on with Eni Chem both in France and other European countries. Before running Petcore Europe, he has been the Managing Director of the French 50 kt/pa PET&HDPE recycling company Sorepla Industrie for the last 21 years.
He is very familiar with the PET and the Polyolefin Industry. Having been a member of Petcore since 1993, became a director and treasurer. Also, for the past 15 years, Vice-President of PRE (Plastics Recyclers Europe), Chairman and founder of it’s HDPE/PP WG and Vice-Chairman of the PET WG.
Christian Crepet moved into an Ambassador role as of 1 January 2023 and became an honorary member of the Board.
Clarissa Morawski
Clarissa Morawski is the co-founder and CEO of Reloop, an organization committed to advancing a circular economy by promoting resource efficiency and waste reduction. Reloop is an accredited UNEP NGO, actively providing detailed input for the Treaty to End Plastic Pollution.
Clarissa has also been deeply engaged in European packaging policy development for the last decade, particularly focusing on the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). Her work emphasizes targets and methodologies, deposit return systems (DRS), reuse, mixed waste sorting, and prioritizes meaningful measurement, accurate reporting, and transparency.
Colm Jordan
Passionate advocate for evidence-based decision making to create a sustainable world. Global public affairs and communications professional. Experienced team leader and brand spokesperson. Proven track record in complex government relations, policy development and implementation. Leinster Rugby season ticket holder.
Denis Redonnet
Denis Redonnet is a distinguished French expert in international economics and trade. He holds degrees from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, University Paris IX Dauphine, and the College of Europe in Bruges.
Since August 2020, Denis has served as Deputy Director-General and Chief Trade Enforcement Officer at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade. His extensive career within the European Institutions includes roles such as Director of WTO Legal Affairs, Deputy Head of Cabinet to EU Trade Commissioners Peter Mandelson and Pascal Lamy, and contributions to EU enlargement and economic policy. Prior to his tenure with the European Commission, Denis worked in corporate finance at Credit Commercial de France in London and participated in international missions, including post-conflict reconstruction in Kosovo.
In academia, Denis teaches trade policy at the European College in Parma and formerly at the College of Europe in Bruges. He is fluent in French and English, with proficiency in Spanish and Danish.
Eleonora Chiari
Emiel Klootsema
Mr. Emiel Klootsema is manager of the laboratory of GETEC PARK.EMMEN. For 30 years he has been working in the laboratory which specializes in PET and PA6 polymer analyses. He has extensive experience with various analysis techniques for polymer production control and polymer product development. More than 20 years ago he was one of the founders of the so-called Partisol analysis. The Partisol analysis is nowadays widely used to provide insight into particles present in (r)PET recycle streams. Today he has led the development of the analysis methodology for detecting BPA in PET.
Eric Westerhoff
Eric is a Sales Director for Advanced Recycling at Pellenc ST, a Sensor based sorting solution provider for the Waste & Recycling industry. With 20 years of Marketing & Sales experience in the Greentech Industry, Eric joined Pellenc ST in 2019 to address the challenge of plastic waste by exploring new solutions contributing to material circularity. After heading the Marketing Department, he now supports Chemical Recyclers as well as the HolyGrail 2.0 initiative with his expertise and industrial know-how. He enjoys working with Recycling business leaders looking to boost their processes by designing the right sorting for feedstock preparation.
Ermis Panagiotopoulos
Ermis Panagiotopoulos holds a bachelor’s degree (BSc) in Water Management and Agriculture Engineering (Greece), a master’s degree (MSc) in Environmental Science from Wageningen University (Netherlands) and an MA in International Politics (Brussels).
Ermis has been living and working in Brussels since 2006. He has worked in environmental NGOs, European Commission, and industry associations. He is currently the Head of Sustainability Advocacy EMEA at Indorama Ventures PCL. His expertise is diverse and includes issues such as agriculture, energy, water, waste and circular economy.
Filipe de Botton
Günther Klammer
Günther Klammer, CTO of Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH (NGR), is a seasoned expert in plastics recycling and a passionate innovator.
Renowned for his creative approaches, he specializes in cutting-edge technologies, including the direct processing of PET flakes into preforms using the advanced “Liquid State Polycondensation” (LSP) technology. With decades of experience, he is dedicated to advancing sustainable solutions and shaping the future of PET recycling.
Günther Lehner
1979 – 1982
work with ALPLA in various technical departments in Hard, including assignments at various production
plants abroad.
1982 – 1983
Plant Manager of ALPLA Kaiserslautern
1983 – 1986
HTL für Kunststofftechnik TGM Wien (Technical High School)
1986 – 1987
General Electric, USA
1987 – 1989
Plant Manager of Lübecker Kunststoffwerke
1989 – 1992
Head of Technical Center Hard (AT), ALPLA Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co KG
Since 1992
Member of the Executive Board, ALPLA Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co KG
Since 2006
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ALPLA Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co. KG
Since 2021: Chairman of ALPLA Group of Companies
Haim Za’afrani
Vice President, Systems & Tooling – Americas & Europe at Husky Technologies
With more than 27 years of experience at Husky, Haim has progressed in his career throughout various service and sales management positions within the organization starting out as a Service Engineer to his current sales leadership role. His early experience in service has proven invaluable in working together with customers to understand their challenges and recommend Husky solutions enabling their success. Having a deep passion for sustainability and ensuring customers realize the importance it can bring to their businesses; Haim is well versed in aligning Husky’s value proposition with sustainable packaging solutions and recommendations that demonstrate this commitment to our customers. He holds two bachelor’s degrees in engineering with specializations in mechanical engineering and automation and PLCs and robotics, respectively.
Ingrid Goumans
Ingrid Goumans is Director Sustainable Public Affairs – ESG at Avantium Renewable Polymers and is working at Avantium since 2017. She has been involved in, and has been responsible for, the technical development programs with Avantiums customers, ensuring product performance on the shelfs. Nowadays, her focus lies on the sustainable implementation of PEF in the market, taking into consideration the relevant sustainability topics, like recycling. For this, she works with partners and national bodies to ensure circular introduction of PEF in the market.
Jan-Willem Slijkoord
Mr. Jan Willem Slijkoord is a material scientist and entrepreneur. During his 25-year career, he has worked in process technology companies such as Akzo Nobel, Tata Steel, Norit Activated Carbon and for the Dutch National Laboratory of applied sciences, TNO. There, he was active in various roles as a materials scientist, marketing manager or business development manager. During his career, Mr. Slijkoord has gained extensive experience with developing new PET recycling technologies. Since 2020 Mr. Slijkoord is active as business development manager for GETEC PARK.EMMEN. In this role he is engaged in consulting customers to improve their PET product quality control and expand the analyses portfolio of GETEC.
Jesper van Berkel
Jim Armstrong
John McClelland
John McClelland – Sales Director, ColorMatrix Europe at Avient Corporation. John is an experienced sales professional and top line growth six sigma black belt with 15 years experience of account management, new business development and management of a sales and business development team covering the Europe, Middle East & Africa territory and with clients in the automotive, bio-medical, photovoltaic, telecom and aerospace industries. Previous roles include technical marketing, technical service and manufacturing engineering support within 3 different businesses (advanced fibres, high performance polymers and materials for electronics).
José Antonio Alarcon
José Antonio has a degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Granada (Spain) and PDD from the Austral University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Jose Antonio has been involved in the Plastics industry for 35 years, mainly concentrated in the PET industry, involved in Virgin PET, Co-polyesters, Recycling and Packaging business. He has developed his carrier in Multinational companies as Eastman, Artenius, and Selenis.
José Antonio is currently CEO of IGBS, dedicated to Technical, Operational and Business consultancy, with special focus on the Plastic industry. As independent consultant, he has collaborated in the past with Petcore-Europe as coordinator of the Thermoforming Working Group
He´s currently collaborates with Indorama in Different recycling integration projects.
In December, Jose Antonio started a collaboration with Petcore Europe to work as Secretary of the Functional Barrier Consortium.
José Queipo
José Queipo, Ecosense Foundation General Manager, over 25 years of professional career in recognised national and international companies with extensive experience in the management of business units producing recycled PET packaging for food industry. He is recently CEO of the Ecosense Foundation, a PETCORE and TCEP TC member, and owner of the RETRAY Accredited Certification Scheme to promote the use and recycling of thermoformed PET packaging.
Joseph Tayefeh
oseph Tayefeh is an essayist, lecturer and Secretary General of The European Plastics Alliance Plastalliance, a pro-European organisation of manufacturers, recyclers and marketers of plastic and plastic-packaged products. He is the author of the book ‘Plastique bashing : L’intox ? (Le Cherche Midi, October 2023), translated into English at the end of 2024 under the title ‘Plastic bashing: Fake news?’, in which he calls for thoughtful awareness-raising that goes beyond preconceived ideas about pl
Laurent Foldès
Laurent holds a French engineering degree. He is driving the brand management development program for the label division at Klöckner Pentaplast. In his previous life, Laurent work 15 years in the automotive industry before joining the packaging and label world working for CCL and Avery Dennison.
Laurent is part of the cPET consortium and recently start co-chairing the label working group at Petcore.
He lives in Saint Germain en Laye in France with his wife and their three kids. In his freetime, Laurent like to do trail running, play golf or coach Rugby for his son’s team.
Leonor Garcia
Sustainable transformations strategies. Leonor supports clients with scientific, regulatory and advocacy expertise. She helps companies in setting and progressing forward–looking sustainable goals on the use of chemicals and selection of packaging materials to make Green Deal ambitions a market reality. Leonor has gained over 30 years of industry working experience in R&D, Innovation, Manufacturing, and Regulatory and Public Affairs within the Petrochemicals, Chemicals Specialties and Food Industries.
Luciano Villani
Luciano Villani has been Packaging Purchasing Manager at Coop Italia since 2012, over the years he has held various Category Manager positions and has over 25 years of experience in food and non-food distribution.
Marika Knorr
Michael McDermott
Michael McDermott holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, United Kingdom. He has five years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry working as for a synthetic chemistry team at Pfizer in Sandwich. Michael established himself in consultancy and data analytics working for Nexant for seven years, before a five year spell at Wood Mackenzie where he achieved the role of Global Head of Polyolefins.
Michael is currently the director of polymers for the Specialty Chemicals team within S&P Global Commodity Insights. He covers a wide range of polymer markets, with a focus on Europe. His expertise includes polymer industry analytics, recycling and sustainability, material applications, technology and training.
Micke Magnusson
Micke Magnusson is a seasoned leader with over 15 years of experience in C-level roles, specialising in sustainable business development, venture finance, and circular economy strategies. At Accelerating Circularity, he has played a pivotal role in the European part of the organisation from inception. Micke’s expertise spans from FMCG, apparel, textiles and various recycling sectors, with a proven track record in scaling businesses and delivering value-driven solutions. He is recognized for his innovative approach to connecting sustainability with business value, having held pivotal roles at organisations like Enviu Foundation, DyeCoo and We aRe SpinDye. A Swedish national based in Amsterdam, Micke holds a Master’s in Business & Economics from Stockholm University and is a committed advocate of the UN SDG 12, responsible production and consumption.
Monica Harting
Monica Harting is a Portuguese who moved to Germany to study process engineering. She first worked in the automotive industry, implementing development processes and sustainability projects. An additional MBA allowed her to further pursue the idea of combining sustainability with economics. In that period she developed renewable energies, always in an international scope. In the last 5 years she focussed on waste management, having worked with teams in different countries to optimize waste management strategy and develop new recycling processes. At REMONDIS she supports the goal of achieving more circular economy for plastics throughout the entire value chain and different industry sectors.
Noam Assael
Noam Assael, with over 30 years of expertise in materials science, packaging, recycling, strategic planning, business development, and marketing, is a driving force behind groundbreaking innovations and sustainable solutions. For the past eight years, he has been working in Avery Dennison, where he actively helps consumer brands connect their tangible, everyday products with their digital counterparts. By implementing solutions for reusable and refillable packaging, he empowers consumer brands to engage effectively with their customers, enhance operational efficiency, and significantly reduce supply chain costs.
Noslen Suárez
Paolo Cescutti
Patrick Bouzekri
Patrick joined SBAcci after 14 years of experience in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (F.M.C.G.) industry with the global leader of bottled water. This experience gave him in-depth exposure to PET resin, PET preforms and PET containers. He has further experience in International Business Development and High Performance Coaching and Leadership. Patrick focuses on Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia with the World Polyester Research Program, which is a balanced model of supply and demand for global polyester raw materials (PX, PTA, MEG) and the global production and consumption of PET resin. Patrick’s vast experience on the procurement side of the table brings a fresh perspective to our clients and to our understanding of the industry.
Raphaël Jaumotte
He has been for more than 20 years in the business of PET recycling. Held various positions related to quality, environment, operations, purchasing and projects. His last position prior to joining Petcore Europe, was Director of Projects and Quality for the Plastipak Beaune (FR) operation producing more than 45.000T/y of food grade rPET for Plastipak’s preform injection operations with the main focus on continuously improving quality and output. He was formerly a board member and a treasurer of Petcore Europe and a board member of the French Elipso association. Raphael is based near Nuits-Saint-Georges in France.
Robert Siegl
Robert is working for Alpla since 1994. Since January 2022 as Head of Material Research & Compliance, in the Recycling Division of Alpla. Specialized in technologies related to Polyester, PET, Materials for stretch blow molding and Packaging Recycling. Robert joined the Technical Committee of EPBP early 2024.
Roberto Bertaggia
Roberto Bertaggia spent over 30 years of his career in managing both complex contractual sales and coordination roles.
Roberto has dedicated his line of work to the PET industry: recycling technologies, regulatory and business development.
Moreover, he was Petcore Europe’s Past President back in 2017.“I am very happy to join Petcore Europe, the well-recognised home of the PET value chain world. Sustainability is no longer an option nowadays. The industry is called not only to be in compliance with the sustainability concepts but to be proactive in offering solutions and Petcore Europe has a major role to play in coordinating efforts and resources to achieve the required targets and I am looking forward to providing my contribution too.” – Roberto Bertaggia.
Samuel Pardo
Dr. Samuel Pardo currently leads strategic innovations in the kp business ensuring that any development is sustainable. His expertise deals with polymer science and processing. Most recently he has led circularity projects across the whole value chain with high focus design for recyclability and incorporating recycled content into food packaging. Focus is driving future technology projects that have the potential to change the packaging industry. He is member of TCEP Technical Committee and Board Member of PETSHEET Europe/EUPC working group.
Sergio Collado
A Chemical Engineer from the Superior School of Engineering of Seville.
The beginning of his career was linked to polymers in a SBR production facility, after this he participated in the development of the Single Operation Procedures and One Point Lessons instructions, and TPM for packaging lines at KRONES (2008-2012). Between 2012 and 2015 he was dedicated to the agri-food industry in the development of selective liquid-liquid and solid-liquid extraction processes for the recovery of olive industry residues rich in phenols and terpenes. After a brief stint in the construction sector where he led an EU-funded project for the development of resilient bitumen-polyurea pavements to increase urban safety, he joined the Sulayr GS team in 2016-2017 as head of R&D, and since 2018 as technical director of the Sulayr Group.
He has extensive experience in the development of mechanical and chemical processes for waste recovery and, especially in biphasic or triphasic interactions, such as liquid-liquid extraction or froth-flotation processes.
He has participated in a patent (as an inventor) to produce food spherifications and in the last years has developed a process for post-consumer tray recycling.
Sina Momeni
Stefano Soro
Stefano Soro was born in Genoa, Italy. He holds a degree in Management and Economics from Università Bocconi, Milan.
After working in the HR department of a multinational company, he joined the European Commission in 1994, serving in a variety of posts in Eurostat, the Enterprise and Industry DG, the Secretariat-General and the Health and Consumers DG, where from 2006 to 2011 he headed the unit responsible for non-food consumer safety. From 2012 to 2016 he was the Head of the “Medicinal products – quality, safety and efficacy” Unit and then of the “Animal nutrition, veterinary medicines” Unit.
Stefano joined the Internal Market, Industry Entrepreneurship and SMEs DG as Head of the “Food Industry” Unit in 2017. Since 16 March 2021 he is the Head of the DG’s new Green and Circular Economy Unit.
Tobias Bielenstein
Tobias is director Public Affairs, Sustainability & Communications of the Cooperative of the German Mineral Water Companies (Genossenschaft Deutscher Brunnen), which runs Europe’s biggest refillable bottles system with more than one billion bottles and more than 100 million crates. He is also COO of the Working Group Refillables (Arbeitskreis Mehrweg), an organisation managing the Europan Refillable Logo and serving as a think tank & information point about refillables for companies, start-ups, authorities, and scientists. Tobias has been working since 1992 in different roles in the intersection of sustainability, public affairs, and marketing.
Wolfgang Trunk
Team Leader, Circular Economy – From Waste to Resources, DG ENVIRONMENT, European Commission.
Dr. Wolfgang Trunk is Policy Officer for the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation at the European Commission. Previously, from March 2005 to January 2022, he was Policy Officer in the fields of official controls of food and feed, feed legislation, sustainability of livestock farming, including fighting food waste at the European Commission’s DG SANTE.
Yash Lohia
Yash Lohia is the Executive President of Petchem Special Projects and Chairman of the ESG Council at Indorama Ventures, a global sustainable chemical manufacturer. He has been instrumental in driving the company’s ambitious ESG programs, including expanding its global PET recycling, committing to United Nations sustainability goals, and introducing science-based reporting. His career at Indorama Ventures has spanned over a decade, during which time he has held various positions in the Packaging and Fibers segments. He is a passionate advocate for sustainability and has been recognized for his leadership in this area, being inducted into the Forum of Young Global Leaders in 2022.