Bineke Posthumus works as a Director Business Development at the Renewable Polymers department of Avantium. In this function, she works on the commercialization of Avantium’s innovative 100% plant-based FDCA and PEF technology. Bineke Posthumus obtained her Master of Science degree in Strategic Management from the London School of Economics in 2007. Before Avantium, she worked at TNO, one of Europe’s largest research institutes, for approximately 10 years. There, she worked at the Strategic Analysis & Policy department, where she had a specific focus on bringing new technology to market in the areas of the circular economy and the energy transition.

Derek Atkinson is responsible for sales for TotalEnergies Corbion business has been located in the Netherlands since August 2020. Prior to this he was Senior Director for Sales in the Americas and Northern Europe and was based in New York from 2015. In 2011 he became Business Development Director PLA Asia for Corbion located in Singapore. In addition to his main responsibilities for commercializing Corbion's PLA technology in Asia he was also strongly involved in the sourcing and conversion of second generation biomass as feedstocks for sustainable PLA production that does not interfere with the food chain. Prior to that he was Business Development Director at Oxford University spinout Velocys plc, a catalyst technology and microchannel reactor development company in the UK and USA. During his time at Velocys the company grew from 7 people to over 130. The focus of Velocys was in gasification and Fischer-Tropsch conversion for biomass to liquids and gas to liquids – specifically flare gas conversion and stranded gas monetisation. He was a member of the UK Government Thematic Working Group on thermochemical conversion of biomass. Before working for Oxford he held many global sales and marketing positions during his 17 years at Grace Davison mostly focused in the polymer catalyst area and was located in Germany. He has a degree in Chemistry and Polymer Science Technology from Loughborough University in the UK. Until he left Europe he was an external examiner for the School of Chemistry at the University of Cardiff

John is a Chartered Chemist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He started his career in technical roles in the polymer industry with Henkel GmBH moving on to more senior roles with Mydrin (which became part of Total). A globally recognized expert in bioplastics, John has also worked as Head of Biomaterials at the National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC); a Task Force member of Green Alliance Circular Economy Panel; Member of the Industrial Biotech Leadership Forum; an advisor to BEIS and Ellen MacArthur; Member of the BPF Technical & Sustainability Committee; Founding Member and previous Technical Director at the Bio-based and Biodegradable Industries Association (BBIA); and serves on the Green Economy Panel of Leeds City region.

Dr Anita Haider is a synthetic polymer chemist with a PhD from Imperial College, London in 2007. During her research career, she developed functionalised biodegradable polymers from various naturally-occurring sugars and produced copolymers with polylactic acid (PLA) to enhance PLA’s biodegradation properties. Anita has had a career spanning 20 years in aluminium, oil and gas industries across multiple commercial disciplines and managing multi-billion-dollar investments in some of the world’s largest organisations, including ExxonMobil and BP. This has taken her on a global journey from the United Kingdom to Africa, the Middle East and Asia. She founded Emnandi Bioplastics to drive the bioplastics industry into new arenas with a focus on the circular economy and expansion into new and niche applications, leveraging the latest in polymer and digital technology to devise solutions that take us Beyond Net Zero.

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Ruud Rouleaux is the owner and CEO of Helian Polymers, leading material development expert focusing on fully biobased and 100% biodegradable PHA compounds.

After earning his BSc in Plastics Engineering and gaining experience within that field, Ruud Rouleaux (47) became the managing director in 2007 of the then trading company specialised in masterbatches and additives. For the past 15 years he has been active in the biopolymer market as a key distributor for Enmat PHB and PHBV in the EMEA region. In the meantime he founded the brand colorFabb, leading manufacturer of innovative 3D printing filaments, which was spun off as a separate company in 2015. Ruud Rouleaux is still the owner.

With the increasing demand for biobased alternatives to replace petrochemical plastics, he made the decision to phase out the trading activities in masterbatches and focus solely on the development of PHA based  compounds, custom made according the the customers’ needs.

Ruud Rouleaux is married and has three children. His personal interests, whenever he finds the time, are reading, cycling, movies and traveling.

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Andreas Künkel studied biology in Marburg (Germany) and did his PhD work at the Max-Planck-Institute for terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg. Having joined BASF in 1999 in the company´s biotech department, he has been afterwards in various marketing positions for Fine Chemicals and ecoflex® & ecovio® with a focus on strategy and New Business Development. Since 2010 he is head of biodegradable and biobased polymer research and is now leading as executive expert and Vice President a program for biodegradable and biobased materials. Andreas is teaching at the University of Marburg.

Colin Ardern built a team of more than 16 employees across 3 countries to commercialize multiple bioplastic product offerings for durable applications

Cristian HEDESIU is a polymers expert with more than 20 years of diversified international experience in the plastic industry. Over the past years, Cristian has been combining his extensive expertise in R&D and innovation of polymers, and his knowledge of the global polymers market and value chain to develop and implement global marketing strategies for international corporates. Currently, he is the Chief Technology Officer in Carbonauten polymers, aiming to develop, manufacture, and market minus CO2 biocomposites for a broad range of plastic applications.

Gabriele Ciaccio (male) – Graduated in Industrial Chemistry at University of Turin joined CRF 2010 after a work experience in the truck sector. Currently he works in Stellantis - CRF, Materials & Sustainability Engineering and he manages the Polymers team based in Italy

Dr Karlheinz Hausmann, Sr Advisor with Dow Europe GmbH in Horgen, Switzerland is holding a doctoral degree in Material Science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland and a Engineering degree of the FAU (Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg He has more than 30 years of experience in polyethylen and ethylene copolymers. He joined DuPont in 1987 in the W&C group in Geneva, Switzerland. From 1989-1991 he held a position as R&D Engineer in DuPonts ethylene copolymer business at EI DuPont de Nemours Inc in Wilmington , DE, USA. In 1991 he moved back to DuPont in Geneva to work Packaging and Industrial Business Unit. Here he had a number of R&D and Technical and Market Development assignments including packaging, polymer modification, cosmetic packaging and automotive and started the development of DuPonts reactive modifier and compatibilizer business for polymer modification and recycling.As global sustainability leader he has been contributing to the development of the sustainability strategy of DuPonts Packaging and IndustrialPolymers business unit. After the merger between DuPont and Dow in 2017 he has been heavily involved in Sustainability aspects associated with recycling and lightweighting of packaging Structures as SR TS&D Fellow at Dow Europe in Horgen. In this function he is also representing Dow in various industry Organisations and working groups on circular economy aspects such as CEFLEX, Recyclass and PCEP. Starting July 2021 Karlheinz is holding the position of a Sr Advisor to Dow in the areas of high pressure copolymers and sustainability.

Chaeryun YEOM graduated from INP-ENSIACET in Toulouse (France) with a master's degree in green chemistry and production. She is R&D project manager with FuturaMat, a company which develops and markets a wide range of bioplastic formulations with close regard to sustainability. Chaeryun is specialized in chemical engineering and responsible for developing formulations of thermoplastics, keeping environment protection in mind. As a research intern, Chaeryun participated in the development of innovative materials based on biopolymers from plants and the development of biobased polyesters.

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Mariusz Nowak / Project Manager / Simoldes Plasticos Deutschland GmbH

Mariusz Nowak graduated at the University of Technology in Wroclaw with a diploma in Mechatronic Engineering faculty at Automotive specialization. His specialty subjects are injection process with all diversity of injection process technologies and mechanical recycling materials from the manufacturing point of view. He is a member of the Simoldes Plasticos innovation department working for automotive industry. The specializing at the materials are related with the development and production of PP / PE compounds

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Kateryn Carrillo is driven by a passion for combating plastic waste and advancing social entrepreneurship.

With a background as Industrial Engineering and a master’s in social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, she has cultivated a rich blend of technical expertise and innovative thinking through her work in both Colombia and Germany.

As the CEO of Natupla—short for “Natural Plastic”—Kateryn leads efforts to tackle the global challenge of plastic pollution. Her team develops biobased and biodegradable polymers derived from renewable resources and agricultural waste, offering sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics.

By harnessing local raw materials and embracing circular economy principles, Natupla is not only reducing environmental impact but also fostering a more sustainable and inclusive future.

Francesco Distante received his B.Sc (2013) and M.Sc (2015) in Organic Chemistry with honors at University of Pavia, (PV,Italy), in collaboration with Leiden University (Netherland). In 2018, he received a Ph.D in Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano with an experimental thesis in the field of Polymer Chemistry. In particular, he was involved in projects dealing with Diastereoselective Ring-​opening polymerization (ROP) and Drug delivery.
After his Ph.D, in November 2018, he joined ETH Zurich as a post-doc, becoming responsible of projects dealing with bio-based polymers and sustainability. After this experience, in 2019 he joined Sulzer, where he covers the position of R&D Engineer. His actual responsibilities in Sulzer rely on supporting a green transition towards more sustainable bio-monomers and bio-polymers.

Sonali Bioplastics was founded by Mariam, CEO of the company. She started her entrepreneurial journey while in college in Minnesota, launching an ecommerce business selling gadgets. She has always been passionate about innovative technologies and causes for a better planet. Mariam is the co-founder of a few startups in the technology space (semiconductors, telecommunications, digital advertising) and the founder of two startups in the renewable space. Arya Solar, is a startup focused on renewable energy and has installed solar systems in Asia and Africa. Sonali Bioplastics is a startup in the climate tech space which solves the plastic pollution problem with plant based products. It assists in the deceleration of climate change through decarbonization. Her first renewable company started with a simple vision to serve the community and soon expanded to add products and services on a global scale. Mariam is self-driven, motivated to reach her goals, hardworking, and people oriented. Her professional career has taken her through a variety of fields in the startup space in Silicon Valley and globally. She completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Minnesota and has been based in the San Francisco Bay Area in California for 23 years. She holds an FAA Private Pilot License and enjoys flying. Mariam is a published author of short stories and poetry, speaks multiple languages, and has traveled extensively.

Anne is co-founder and CEO of the award-winning circular bioeconomy start-up traceless materials. She has developed the technology for the production of the novel, natural-based plastic alternative traceless materials. Anne holds a PhD in process engineering from Hamburg University of Technology and has extensive experience in commercial product development and process scaling. She is also a recognized industry expert in life-cycle assessment and Cradle to Cradle.

Dr. Phil Brown, VP Strategy & Business Development, Circularise

Phil's PhD research explored the design and facilitation of collaborative circular oriented innovation networks. His challenge and the continuing question is if a circular economy requires inter-organisational, cross-sector, & networked collaborative innovation, how can this be facilitated? He has joined Circularise to advance blockchain solutions to support companies to overcome the challenges of data sharing within complex supply chains to facilitate collaboration and implement circular strategies. His aim is to support companies to turn their CE ideas into action.

Tahiya Hossain is a Sustainability and Biodesign professional with 5+ years of experience within the fashion industry. Tahiya is an MA Biodesign (Hons) graduate from Central Saint Martins, UAL in London and also holds a BA Fashion Design (Hons) degree from Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY in New York. Tahiya specializes her work in the Biodesign field through vegan/kombucha leather, algae, mycelium, and bacteria dyes. Her most notable works have been exhibited around the world from the LVMH Congress of Nature in Marseilles, France to currently exhibiting in Future Materials Bank in Jan Van Eyck Academie in Maastrichts, Netherlands. Tahiya currently works as a Sustainability Expert for Adidas UK, developing plastic waste initiatives and creating and developing awareness through sustainable consumer experiences.

Karin Molenveld

Karin Molenveld is educated as a Chemical Engineer (MsC) at the Technical University of Twente. Karin has been working at Wageningen Food & Biobased Research in the field of sustainable plastics for over 25 years. At present Karin is expertise leader in the field of “Sustainable Plastic Technology” coordinating the work of a group of about 20 people focussed on topics related to the development and application of biobased and biodegradable plastics and the end-of-life of plastic products including organic, chemical and mechanical recycling.

Extending the application opportunities of biobased and biodegradable plastics as well improving recycling practices of plastic products are the main topics within this expertise. Well known examples of developed products include PLA based particle foam (Biofoam™), full PLA coffee cups as well as various starch based compounds and products. More recent topics include biodegradable netting for agricultural applications, the fate of compostable products in full scale organic waste treatment facilities and improving the properties of PLA with respect to its foaming behaviour, flow properties and biodegradation in the open environment. More generic topics are the effect of regulations on recyclability of packaging, the ban on single use plastics and balancing the use of packaging with food waste prevention.

Bas Krins is Technical Director of Senbis Polymer Innovations BV, located in Emmen, The Netherlands.

He has an extensive research career in wetspinning and melt processing of polymers. First at Akzo Nobel, later at Acordis and Diolen. He holds patent in the area of wet spinning as well of melt spinning processes, and has been responsible for major innovative investment programs. After the bankruptcy of Diolen in 2008 he was one of the founders of an independent commercial research institute, Applied Polymer Innovations BV (API). This company was later renamed to Senbis Polymer Innovations (Senbis). Senbis offers a unique combination of lab facilities and an extensive pilot plant. Together with a team of specialists this institute has a track record with respect to the development of applications based on biopolymers, especially in cases where biodegradability is an advantage for environmental reasons. Bas Krins supervised many projects with respect to the development of spin-off activities of API and Senbis.

Willemijn Witteveen is Business Development Director, Renewable Chemistries at Avantium and has been with the company for over 5 years. She is heading up the commercialization effort of one of Avantium's ground-breaking technologies: Avantium's sugars-to-glycols technology (the Ray Technology®). Prior to joining Avantium, Willemijn worked as a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. Willemijn holds a MBA from INSEAD and a MSc in Chemical Engineering from Delft University of Technology. Willemijn looks forward to discussing with like-minded value chain partners at this years' World Biopolymers and Bioplastics Innovation Forum.

Chemical Engineer from Greece working in the plastic industry for 1 year in Coral AE. I am dealing with many suppliers of raw polymers (virgin, recycled and biodegradable) and I am trying to serve clients from the Greek and Balkan area, exploring the beauty and difficulties of this business. Knowing the negative impact of plastics in the environment, I have been studying during the last year the applications and possible economic advantages of the migration to biodegradable polymers.

Graduated Civil Engineer in Polymer Materials and Chemistry at University of Liège, Belgium on 1996. 

Master in Polymer Rheology at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal

PhD in Applied Sciences focused in Polymer Blends and Processing at University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium in 2002.

Joined Solvay group in 2004 with different positions including Production Team Manager, R&D Project Manager, Material Expert and finally Technical Development Manager for EMEA region

In charge for developing new opportunities and businesses for high performance specialty polymers with a special focus on sustainability and circularity

Also worked as associate Professor at University of Liège and Louvain-la-Neuve and (co)author of almost 30 scientific articles, 20 presentations and 10 patents. 

Over 25 years experience in polymer chemistry and processing

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Alex Blum is a founder, humanitarian, and award-winning philanthropic filmmaker. Alex has a long history of creating significant value for companies large and small, including Oracle, Amazon, and ThousandEyes (now part of Cisco), and for the past five years has been a leading voice in the bioplastics industry. Alex lives in Austin Texas, where he leads Applied Bioplastics as its CEO, making decarbonized plastics for manufacturers and refugee housing for some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

Ludwig Schmidtchen developed a natural seaweed-based polymer material and appropriate production processes as Application Engineer for Biopolymers at Brabender GmbH &Co.KG and PhD student at Technical University of Dresden. He studied mechanical engineering with focus on packaging machinery. Afterwards he worked for the European seaweed cultivation pioneer Ocean Rainforest Sp\F and in industry driven packaging research project as research staff at Technical University of Dresden. Since he got in contact with seaweed first time in 2016, he is dedicated to the vision of natural seaweed-based polymer material as part of tomorrow's sustainable industry.

Luca Chiochia graduated from the Politecnico di Milano University, Italy, in Management Engineering and covers the position of Business Development Manager at ELIX Polymers for the healthcare / medical business since 2017. He is fluent in six languages and has over 15 years of experience in industrial applications from multiple sectors' perspectives including thermoplastics, thermoset plastics, composites, electrical insulation, and electronics assembly

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 Benoît Cugnet is a fashion industry professional with more than 25 years of experience in management of sales, marketing, strategic marketing and supply chain across the entire textile and apparel value chain globally. After completing his studies (Clothing production management + MBA) in Cape Town, South Africa, he joined the Freudenberg Group, a global supplier of technical fabrics for the fashion industry. The time spent at Freudenberg gave him a deep understanding of the apparel business, and in particular its negative impact on the environment. Benoît Cugnet is passionate about making textiles part of the solution! After having worked in the fashion industry for a such long time, he strongly believes that nature offers better alternatives to existing materials and that it is not only vital, but that today it is also possible to make textiles truly environmentally friendly. With biofabricated technologies previously unimaginable, AMSilk can solve this challenge and make a true change

Adriana Kyvik has a background in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and a PhD in Materials Science. She has over 5 years of experience in R&D projects, technology transfer and product development. She is currently SeaTO and co-founder at B'ZEOS where she has been coordinating several projects within R&D and with corporate partners.

Thomas Claude Sauer is President & CEO of the EXXERGY Group, a globally acting consulting firm providing first class consulting and operational support. The international consulting focus is in the fields of Energy, Specialty Chemicals, and in particular Glass. Assuming EXXERGY commitments, besides the operational tasks, Mr. Sauer is engaged in supporting quality control and standardization efforts in the renewable energy sectors (particularly PV) participating in expert circles at IECRE, SolarPower Europe, SunSpec Alliance, etc.

Prior to establishing EXXERGY, Mr. Sauer was Chief Executive Officer of IBC Solar AG. From 2001 to 2006, he was Vice President Corporate Strategy and Development at Schott Glas/Schott AG, and Executive Vice President Busi ness Unit Advanced Materials with global P&L-responsibility. In addition to energy related matters, Mr. Sauer has professional experience in aviation, chemical engineering, and specialty materials. Following his studies in Mechanical and Process Engineering at the Technical University Munich and in Chemical and Process Engineering at the University (TH) Karlsruhe he achieved his Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University (TH) Karlsruhe in Germany.

I am graduated (MSc) in Chemical Engineering and active for more than 20 years in the plastic industry.

Experienced in Marketing, Technical Sales ( > 8 years), Process- and Product development, knowledge of (Bio-)polymer raw materials, (international) markets and very familiar with plastic processing technologies.

Michael is the Chief Executive of the Company. His career began with his long-established family packaging business which started in London in 1920. He took control of its development in the mid -1970s and changed the emphasis of the company's business from jute and paper products to polythene packaging, introducing the then innovative high density and medium density polythene into the UK market. He was appointed Managing Director of Brentapac UK Plc, in 1985, with continuing responsibility for its expansion into the national and international markets. Thew products covered a wide range of industries, including the NHS, MOD and other government and market sectors. He co-founded Symphony Environmental in 1995 which owns the following well-known brands d2w d2p, and d2t. In 2001 as CEO he led the team that took the Company public on The London Stock Exchange.

Dr. ir. Pieter Samyn received Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering 2007 at Ghent University and followed an academic career at University Freiburg and Hasselt University, until 2021 when he joined the collective research center Sirris as a Senior Research Engineer. He has broad experience on the synthesis, processing and characterization of bio-based materials for composite and coating applications. His research focusses on surface functionalization and he subsequently led research projects on bio-inspired adhesion mechanisms, functional coatings for paper substrates and the development of (nano)composite materials from bio-based building blocks (cellulose, biopolymers). The applied industrial research currently focusses on formulation and processing of biobased resins for more sustainable coating formulations with enhanced performance. 

Wolfgang Radke studied chemistry in Mainz (Germany), where he also obtained his PhD degree. He became head of the analytics department at the German Plastics Institute (Deutsches Kunststoff-Institut, DKI) and later lead the polymer analytics group at Fraunhofer LBF. Since 2014 he is employed by PSS Polymer Standards Service -now part of Agilent, where he first was responsible for application development before he became head of the contract analysis department.

Major fields of work include size exclusion and interaction chromatography polymers as well as coupled chromatographic methods.