Oliver Buchholz
European Bioplastics
Oliver Buchholz heads the European Bioplastics’ (EUBP) Communications Department. At EUBP he is responsible for press and public relations as well as for the association’s internal communication. He holds a diploma in political sciences of the Free University of Berlin. Mr Buchholz worked for several years as a consultant in an international public/government affairs agency where he was specialized in the areas health, chemicals and energy. Previous to his position at EUBP, he worked for several years as advocacy office for a German foundation.
Angelo Innamorati
EUROPEAN COMISSION
Angelo is an agronomist with a long experience in agriculture and public administration. He is an official of the EU Commission since 1997.
He works since 2004 in DG AGRI, the horizontal Unit D.4, dealing with the environment, climate change, bioeconomy and forestry.
He followed since 2004 all the environmental items to integrate the requirements in the CAP.
He worked the last years also on the Circular economy, including plastics and bioplastics.
Jordi Simón
BASF
Jordi Simon graduated in Industrial Chemistry and has been working for 26 years in the plastics division of BASF. He is Business Manager at BASF Iberia and his tasks are related to different business lines: polyolefins, engineering plastics, styrene plastics and foams. He is currently the Head of Biodegradable Plastics at BASF Iberia.
Elena Domínguez
AIMPLAS
Elena holds a Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain) and a Master’s degree in Polymeric Materials and Composites. Researcher at the Department of Sustainability and Industrial Recovery of AIMPLAS since 2015. Some of the activities she performs are research to develop new materials, manufacturing processes, recycling/recovery of materials, environmental analysis, carbon footprint calculation and life cycle assessment (both in process and product) and ecodesign. She has experience in the field of bioplastics/biocomposites both in laboratory tests to determine biodegradability in different media and also in accreditation and certification of requirements for the compostability of plastic products.
Teresa Guerrero
AGENCIA CATALANA DE RESIDUOS
Degree in Chemical Engineering at the Institut Químic Sarrià. Degree in Industrial Engineering at Ramon Llull University
Master in Business Administration at ESADE twenty-five years of experience, five in the private sector and twenty in the Catalonian public administration.
In the private sector, I worked in plastic manufacture industry and in energy generation sector (nuclear and energy cogeneration facilities).
I began working in Waste Agency of Catalonia in industrial waste management in 1993 and I had been responsible for Organic Waste Department, from 2000 to 2017.
From 2017 I have been working as a Responsible of the separate collection promotion Department within the Circular Economy
Sam Deconinck
OWS
Sam holds a Masters degree in Bioscience Engineering from the State University of Ghent in Belgium.
Since 2009 he leads the Marketing and Sales team of OWS’ contract research laboratory and is responsible for providing customers with tailored advice on biodegradability and compostability testing and certification. He has been representing OWS in different advisory committees and standardization groups over the past years. Since 2017, Sam holds the position of Deputy Lab Manager, co-managing the lab representing a team of over 70 people.
Moreover, Sam is also in charge of several other projects in the field of recycling, integrated waste management and waste composition.
Sara García
TÜV AUSTRIA
Sara has a degree in Environmental Sciences from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and a master’s degree in Engineering and Environmental Management from the Business School of Madrid. She joined TÜV AUSTRIA in 2015 and since 2018 she is the manager of Compostability and Biodegradability Certification in the Iberian Peninsula, giving support to the technical team of TÜV AUSTRIA BELGIUM and thus facilitating the communication and management tasks with customers in Spain and Portugal.
Ólafur Ögmundarson
DTU / UI
Ólafur Ögmundarson is an Assistant Professor at the University of Iceland. Previously he worked as Senior Sustainable-Innovation Manager at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark. He holds a PhD in Management Engineering with focus on the application of Life Cycle Assessment in process and product optimization with an environmentally sustainable end-in-mind. Currently he is among others working on process optimization for different fine chemicals and packaging of fresh fish products.
Miguel Ángel Valera
AIMPLAS
Degree in Chemical Engineering by the University of Valencia, working in the Compounding department at AIMPLAS as a researcher since 2003. He is specialized in processing, blending, mixing and modification of polymers through the compounding process. His background is focused in biopolymers, natural fillers, wood-plastic composites, nanocomposites, reinforced polymers, recycling and reactive extrusion. He has participated in R&D projects in different programs, like EU FP6, FP7 and H2020 as a researcher and/or technical coordinator in AIMPLAS. Currently, he is the coordinator of the Reactive Extrusion and biopolymer research group in AIMPLAS.
Pia Püllen
Fkur
Pia Püllen graduated in 2007 her studies of International Business & Languages with a Bachelor of Commerce in Emmen, The Netherlands. After more than 10 years of sales experience in the polyamide plastic business, Pia Püllen started working for FKuR in 2019. In her position, she is responsible for the Business Development of FkuR bioplastics. As a leading producer of customized bioplastics, FKuR offers a broad range of biobased and biodegradable resins for a variety of durable and flexible applications.
FKuR’s bioplastics have been tested according to recognized national and international standards and are certified by independent institutes.
Customers can benefit from a variety of compounds, from our global distribution program as well as our development partnerships.
Christian P. Lenges
DUPONT
Christian is Business Development for BioMaterials in DuPont Industrial BioSciences and focused on the development and launch of growth businesses to make industrially important chemicals and materials from renewable feedstocks. He has experience in a variety of businesses and functions in DuPont including product & technology development, portfolio management & venture leadership. He has had leadership roles in DuPont’s efforts in Biomaterials since 2008 in the Sorona® business, and in the biomaterial ventures driving towards commercial launch. Dr. Lenges holds a Diplom Degree from the Heinrich Heine University in Duesseldorf.
Lars Börger
NESTE
Stefan Corbus
Kuraray
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) in environmental engineering from Jena/ Germany. After several years in aviation and automotive industry, Stefan joined PLANTIC Technologies (Germany) GmbH in 2009 as technical manager for tooling and prototyping in the thermoforming department. Later on Stefan was appointed production manager and site manager of the PLANTIC’s ADC in Germany. PLANTIC Technologies was acquired by Kuraray in 2015. Since then Stefan is part of the account manager team at Kuraray EVAL Europe n.v. in Antwerp/ Belgium, responsible for Market Development and Account Management for PLANTIC in EMEA markets.
Anxo Vidal
ECOPLAS
Business manager and R&D coordinator at ECOPLAS. He has led several projects such as new marine cultivation systems through the use of smart polymers, ECOBIONET (on biocompostable nets), PLASFIBERWOOS (on wood-plastic composites), BIOPACKNET (SME-Instrument project within H2020 and winner of Phase 1) and BIOVEGE (on biocompostable nets). He has also taken part as a speaker in several workshops and conferences, such as the SME-Instrument event organised in Lisbon by Sonae 2018, the workshop on plasticulture organised by AIMPLAS, a workshop on sustainable packaging organised by GAIN and the Agrobiotech Fest organised by GAIN and named “Innovation and SMEs”.
Jenifer Mitjà
Corbion
She has an Industrial Technical Chemical Engineering Degree by University Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and Materials Engineering Degree by Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). She has worked in different companies in the field of packaging and plastics in the roles of application engineer, R&D films responsible, among others. In 2015, Jenifer joined Corbion as an application engineer for bioplastics. In 2017 when the joint venture Total Corbion PLA bv was created, she joined as Application Engineer for PLA, focused in extrusion coating and powder applications. Recently Jenifer is combining her job as an Application Engineer with the role as an Account Manager for Iberia.
Verena Goldbach
COVESTRO
Covestro Deutschland AG, Leverkusen, Germany . Technology scouting in the field of sustainable chemistry, renewable resources and recycling . Project management for collaborations across academia and industry.
Clémentine Arnault
CARBIOLICE
Clémentine Arnault is educated as a Chemical Engineer. After working for a compounder and experiencing polymers in their various transformation and applications she joined Carbiolice at its foundation in 2016. Presently R&D Manager, with her team, she is responsible for the development of Carbiolice’ innovative and proprietary enzymatic technology from a pilot scale to the industrialization. Evanesto® aims to accelerate PLA biodegradation to achieve the Home Compost certification. Sensitive to environmental issues and a circular economy, her values fit to the Carbiolice’ project.
Dr. Manuel Godoy
CSIC Polymer Biotechnology Lab.
Dr Manuel Godoy studied biology and holds a PhD in Biological Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires. During his doctoral thesis and subsequently post-doctorate he worked on bacterial metabolism and focus his studies on the mutation effect on structural genes involved in carbon flow. In 2016 he joined the Polymer Biotechnology Lab at CIB-CSIC where he participates in several research projects as an expert in the field of metabolic engineering and omics technologies. He targets his research towards the identification and characterization of enzymes to understand the bacterial biodegradation processes.
Pablo Ferrero
AIMPLAS
He holds a PhD in Chemical, Environmental and Process Engineering from the Universitat de València (Spain). He has been working as a researcher at the Department of Sustainability and Industrial Recovery of AIMPLAS since 2019. His expertise is focused on the anaerobic biodegradation of solvents from flexographic industries and the enzymatic and microbial degradation of plastics. Among the activities which carry on, are included: recycling/recovery and biodegradation of materials. Speaker at seminars and conferences and author of technical articles for scientific journals and magazines.
Bruno Sommer Ferreira
BIOTREND
Graduated in Chemical Engineering by Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal; PhD in Biotechnology by the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal. 20 years experience in the development, optimization, monitoring and control of bioprocesses in biological systems as diverse as microalgae, bacteria, yeasts and animal cells. Before founding Biotrend, has performed research at the Technical University of Lisbon and the University of Toronto (Canada). Consultant for national and international private and governmental organizations on industrial biotechnology and bio-based products. Author of more than 40 scientific publications, including three patents. Has been the principal investigator in 15 international collaborative projects co-funded by the European Union.
Stefano Facco
NOVAMONT
Stefano Facco is New Business Development Director of Novamont SpA as well as the managing director of the German subsidiary of Novamont, which is based in Eschborn. He has held this position since 1997, following six years as Product Development Manager for Montedison Deutschland, where he worked on the market introduction of biofuels and biopolymers. Earlier, he had worked there on liquid crystal polymers for electronic applications like PCB and speciality fibres for EMI shielding. The first stages of his career were interspersed with two stints at the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Germany, as a consultant for EDP and marketing and lately as Managing Director. He is Board Member and co-founder of EuBP, the European Bioplastics Association and former member of the Din “ biodegradable polymers” working group.
Stefano Facco was born in Hong Kong 1963, went to High School in Germany and Austria, has a background in economics.
Antonia Rojas Martínez
BIOPOLIS
Degree in Chemistry by the University of Granada (1999). pHD Thesis developed in bioremediation and biocatalysis at the Estación Experimental del Zaidín- CSIC, under the doctorate program of Biotechnology of the University of Granada (2004). Postdoctoral fellow for two years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambrige, USA, 2004-2006) at the Chemistry Department, doing research in enzymology. Assistant professor at the University of Valladolid in the Chemical Engineering department (2006-2007). Since 2007 working in industry, doing research on biofuels and green chemistry, within the framework of biorefineries. Since 2009, responsible of Bioenergy Laboratory in Biopolis, with more than 20 patents and publications, leading Biopolis contribution in 15 European and National consortia devoted to biofuels and bio-based materials. Since September 2019, responsible of Microbiology Lab at ADM-Biopolis, with the additional role of leading the research in development of probiotics.
Laura Martí
AIMPLAS
PhD in Sustainable Chemistry by the Polytechnic University of Valencia working in AIMPLAS as a researcher in the Synthesis Department. She worked for the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) for 6 years in the field of Fine Chemistry (2009-2015) then she moved to Queen’s University of Belfast (2016-2017) to work as Research Associate to carry out investigations for the valorization of cooking oil waste. She has been involved in National and International projects in the field of valorization of biomass and synthesis of heterogeneous catalysts. She has 4 peer-reviewed articles in Scientific Journals and has attended to several Conferences and workshops proceeding in the field of heterogeneous
catalysis.
Salvador Martínez
Eversia
Salvador Martínez de Maya is Chemical Engineer from the Universidad de Murcia. He worked for three years in the Centro Tecnológico Nacional de la Conserva y Alimentación (National Tinned Food and Food Technology Centre) in the R&D&I department, participating in both national and European projects. He also worked in several food companies in Murcia and since a few years he is responsible for the R&D department of Plásticos Romero.
Sebastian Fraas
LEISTRITZ
Sebastian achieved a degree for higher education for chemical engineering at the University of Applied Science Nuremberg. During his years of study he gained professional Since 2007 Sebastian has been with the Leistritz Extrusionstechnik GmbH as a chemical engineer. In 2011 he was appointed team manager of the Leistritz lab. His main responsibility include planning of trials and setting up extruders in terms of chemical engineering. As an expert in the field of extrusion he of course supports the sales team as well as customers. In 2013 he has been appointed Head of Process Technology. Since 2017 he is supporting the sales team as Product and Applications Manager.experience at Siemens and Macrolab in Germany. His degree dissertation was titled “Silicone-free Adhesion of High-Performance Electronic Engineering”. Sebastian has been a speaker at various workshops and events of the plastics industry around the world.
Tomi Kangas
Arctic Biomaterials Oy
Current job and title: Arctic Biomaterials Oy, Sales Director
Past: Nearly 10 years at Borealis iSales Manager, Key Customer Leader and Senior Application Marketing Manager positions.
Education:
IMM graduate diploma in marketing, Damelin Business College, Johannesburg South Africa
BBA in international business operations Turku Polytechnic, Finland
Ana García Calle
Quimóvil
Ana is graduated in Chemical Engineering and a master’s degree in Packaging Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.
He has been working for more than nine years in the R&D Department of Quimóvil, leading in recent years a project on water-based inks for printing non-absorbent media, mainly to be applied in flexible packaging.
She has an extensive experience in water-based inks from a technical and regulatory point of view, as well as in their industrial application in flexographic printing lines.
Laura Pomes
Quimóvil
She graduated in Chemical Engineering and has a master’s degree in Biotechnology. She started her career in the cement industry. Then, she focused her professional interests on the field of coatings, inks and paints. She has been working in Quimóvil S.A. for 23 years, where she has led the Technical, Quality and Environmental Department for 19 years.