Dr. Elke Metzsch-Zilligen
Director Division Plastics | Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF
Dr. Metzsch-Zilligen studied chemistry at the University of Cologne and received her PhD in physical chemistry in 2006. After working in the food industry for several years, she joined the German Plastics Institute (DKI) in 2011, which was integrated into Fraunhofer LBF in 2012. There she headed the “Additivation and Durability” department until April 1, 2024, when she subsequently took over as director of the plastics division at Fraunhofer LBF.
Her research focuses on the synthesis of new additives and the selection and evaluation of optimized additives/additive systems for thermoplastics depending on the application. She has also been working on the sustainability of plastics for many years. This includes significantly improving the quality of recyclates through adapted post-stabilization to improve the mechanical, sensory and optical properties in order to increase the amount of recyclates used or to enable the substitution of virgin material by recyclates in the first place.
Dr. Christian Beinert
Head of Department Polymer Processing and Component Design Ι Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF
Christian Beinert studied mechanical engineering at the University of Darmstadt and received his PhD in 2007 in the field of numerical flow simulation. At the German Plastics Institute (Deutsches Kunststoff-Institut, DKI), he initially headed the research group "Compounding" and, prior to the integration into Fraunhofer LBF in 2012, the department "Thermoplastics Processing". At Fraunhofer LBF, Mr. Beinert currently heads the department "Plastics Processing and Component Design".
The department is part of the division "Plastics" at the Fraunhofer LBF and develops solutions for the resource-conserving use of plastics in technically demanding applications. It covers the entire spectrum from the determination of material properties to the simulation and development of processing methods. With a focus on the design of structural components, the department develops methods and models that can optimally and user-specifically represent material-, process- and/or application-specific influencing variables under complex load situations.
Dr. Madina Shamsuyeva
Head of Department Plastics technology and recycling, plastics analytics | IKK – Institut für Kunststoff- und Kreislauftechnik der Leibniz Universität Hannover
Madina Shamsuyeva studied chemistry at the Middle East Technical University and at the University of Siegen and completed her doctorate at the Technical University of Braunschweig. Through her work at Bayer MaterialScience, the Fraunhofer WKI and now at the IKK, she has extensive experience in the development and characterisation of plastics and composites. Her current focus is on the mechanical recycling of plastic-based waste and the standardisation of plastic recyclates.
Ansgar Schonlau
Managing Director | Maag GmbH
Ansgar Schonlau is an international packaging expert with over 25 years of experience in the plastics industry. The graduate industrial engineer (FH), specialising in printing, has held various sales and management positions and focused on flexible packaging at an early stage. The focus of his work was on the restructuring and internal optimisation of companies, always with the aim of sustainable, cost-effective products and processes. Since 2018, Ansgar Schonlau has been the owner of the highly innovative packaging manufacturer Maag.
He is an advocate of the circular economy and the sustainability of flexible packaging. Together with Dr Dirk Textor, Chairman of the Plastics Recycling Section at bvse e.V., and Dr Michael Scriba, he founded the start-up Certified Recycled Content CRC GmbH in 2022 with the declared aim of strengthening virgin material-replacing recyclates and making a significant contribution to CO2 reduction.
Michael Kriebitzsch
New Business Development Manager | BAERLOCHER GmbH
Education: Degree in Business Administration; MBA with a focus on marketing; technical focus on polyolefins
Professional: With BAERLOCHER GmbH since 2006; focus on sales and marketing of polymer applications in Europe
Core responsibilities:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Achim Grefenstein
Scientific Director Circular Economy | Institut für Kunststoffverarbeitung (IKV) in Industrie und Handwerk an der RWTH Aachen
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Achim Grefenstein, born in 1965, studied mechanical engineering at the technical university of Aachen/Germany where he finished his PhD in the area of plastics processing. Until today, he teaches the subject “Plastics Compounding and Recycling” at the RWTH Aachen. Between 1996 and 2004 he worked at BASF SE in Ludwigshafen/Germany
in the departments of technical thermoplastics and styrenics mainly for the automotive industry. From February 2004 to June 2013 he has been working as Director Corporate R&D for RKW SE in Frankenthal/Germany. Since July 2013 he is Senior Vice President Group R&D at Constantia Flexibles GmbH, Vienna/Austria. For the German Plastics Packaging
Association (IK) he was from 2016 to 2019 chair of the working group “Bioplastics”. At EuPC he was Chair of the Packaging Division from March 2020 to July 2024 and at Recyclass/PRE he is member of the Advisory Board and the Technical Committee Polyolefin Films since July 2019. In addition to his assignment at Constantia Flexibles, he is working at
the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) as Scientific Director Circular Economy in order to further strengthen the recycling research in alignment with the actual industrial challenges.
Peter Putsch
CEO | EXIPNOS GmbH
Peter Putsch is the third generation managing director of the family-run companies Putsch and Exipnos. Born in Nuremberg, he learned the compounding trade from scratch at specialist companies in Italy, Germany and the USA and has more than 40 years of experience in this field. The inventor of the direct compounding technology DCIM and developer of numerous innovative materials and technologies is also one of the most sought-after experts in the field of bio-based and biodegradable plastics. On his initiative, the annual congress "BIOPOLYMER - Processing & Moulding" has been held in Central Germany since 2018. The sponsor is the non-profit support association POLYKUM eV , whose members elected Peter Putsch as executive board member in 2016.
Dr. Jan Sültemeyer
Global Sustainability Leader | Avient Corporation
Jan is a PhD Chemist, graduated from the University of Bonn / Germany. He started his career in CIBA Specialty Chemistry in Basel Switzerland in chemical process development in 2001. From 2004 onwards he took over various roles in product development and marketing in the area of specialty chemicals for the electronic industry with focus on LCD flat panels in CIBA and later in BASF.
In 2015 he joined Clariant as Global Head of Product Management and Innovation for Masterbatches. In 2019 he was appointed to the role of Global Head of Innovation and Sustainability in which he was driving the sustainability agenda for the Masterbatch Business with a strong focus on developing innovative solutions for plastic recycling and biopolymers. In July 2020 the Clariant Masterbatch Business was acquired by PolyOne and is now merged into one business under the name Avient. Also in the new company Jan is globally leading Innovation & Sustainability initiatives and workstreams. In addition, he is co-chairing the Design & Market Solutions Technical Expert Group for the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, and he served for 3 years on the board of the Responsible Mica Initiative.
Dr. Elke Metzsch-Zilligen
Director Division Plastics | Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF
Dr. Metzsch-Zilligen studied chemistry at the University of Cologne and received her PhD in physical chemistry in 2006. After working in the food industry for several years, she joined the German Plastics Institute (DKI) in 2011, which was integrated into Fraunhofer LBF in 2012. There she headed the “Additivation and Durability” department until April 1, 2024, when she subsequently took over as director of the plastics division at Fraunhofer LBF.
Her research focuses on the synthesis of new additives and the selection and evaluation of optimized additives/additive systems for thermoplastics depending on the application. She has also been working on the sustainability of plastics for many years. This includes significantly improving the quality of recyclates through adapted post-stabilization to improve the mechanical, sensory and optical properties in order to increase the amount of recyclates used or to enable the substitution of virgin material by recyclates in the first place.
Dr. Christian Beinert
Head of Department Polymer Processing and Component Design Ι Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF
Christian Beinert studied mechanical engineering at the University of Darmstadt and received his PhD in 2007 in the field of numerical flow simulation. At the German Plastics Institute (Deutsches Kunststoff-Institut, DKI), he initially headed the research group "Compounding" and, prior to the integration into Fraunhofer LBF in 2012, the department "Thermoplastics Processing". At Fraunhofer LBF, Mr. Beinert currently heads the department "Plastics Processing and Component Design".
The department is part of the division "Plastics" at the Fraunhofer LBF and develops solutions for the resource-conserving use of plastics in technically demanding applications. It covers the entire spectrum from the determination of material properties to the simulation and development of processing methods. With a focus on the design of structural components, the department develops methods and models that can optimally and user-specifically represent material-, process- and/or application-specific influencing variables under complex load situations.
Ton Emans
President of Plastics Recyclers Europe and managing Director of CeDo Group | Plastics Recyclers Europe
Ton Emans has more than 30 years’ experience in the plastic recycling process. He is Director Group Recycling.
Ton Emans started his career with DSM in Geleen, The Netherlands and worked as researcher in the field of environment and safety. In 1991, he relocated to a subsidiary of DSM called REKO, a company which started to recycle plastics in 1979. As a Quality, Environment, Safety and Health Manager he became familiar with plastic recycling. After the merger with Wavin Re-use into Arena Recycling he was named Purchasing Manager.
After the bankruptcy of Arena Recycling in 2000 Ton searched for a new owner for the site in Geleen and found CeDo willing to buy her own recycling plant. He was named Managing Director.
In 2004, Ton Emans extended his responsibilities and moved to Mönchengladbach, Germany where he was named Supply Chain Managing Director of CeDo Group.
Ton Emans holds a Master of Science in occupational health and safety from the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands and has completed several business programs.
In 2011, Ton Emans has been named President of PRE, a non-profit organization whose members are European plastic recyclers. PRE represents National Associations and Individual companies covering 80% of the European market. PRE actively promotes the increase of plastics recycling and supports the transition towards circular economy.
Jochen Moesslein
Founder and CEO | Polysecure GmbH
Jochen Moesslein has studied and researched Physics and Economics at Stanford University and the Universities of Stuttgart, Konstanz and Kiel with master degrees in both subjects.
Throughout his life, Jochen has founded, managed and invested in several companies, among them a producer and installer of solar collectors, a manufacturer of biomass fuels, an eCommerce software developer and an innovative medical device company. The most relevant transactions were the IPO of a BioTech company (BioTissue AG), the trade sale of a dental implant manufacturer (Camlog AG to Henry Schein) and the trade sale of an innovative medical device company.
Together with other investors, Jochen founded Polysecure in 2009. His vision is again to use strong innovation in order to solve certain challenges towards a more sustainable and circular economy.
Ana Rodríguez Sánchez
Research Engineer | Robert Bosch GmbH
Ana Rodríguez Sánchez studied mechanical engineering at the University of Stuttgart and holds a PhD in the field of polymer engineering. Since 2007 she works as research engineer at the Corporate Research of the Robert Bosch Company and since 2022 as senior expert in the group “Component Design, Reliability and Validation Polymers”. This research group focuses on developing simulation methods and tools for the virtual engineering of plastic components.
Timothy Glaz
Head of Corporate Affairs | Werner & Mertz GmbH
As a spokesperson for the Recyclate Initiative, he calls for the implementation of a value-adding circular economy for plastic packaging.
Dr. Elke Metzsch-Zilligen
Director Plastics Division | Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF
Dr. Metzsch-Zilligen studied chemistry at the University of Cologne and received her PhD in physical chemistry in 2006. After working in the food industry for several years, she joined the German Plastics Institute (DKI) in 2011, which was integrated into Fraunhofer LBF in 2012. There she headed the “Additivation and Durability” department until April 1, 2024, when she subsequently took over as director of the plastics division at Fraunhofer LBF.
Her research focuses on the synthesis of new additives and the selection and evaluation of optimized additives/additive systems for thermoplastics depending on the application. She has also been working on the sustainability of plastics for many years. This includes significantly improving the quality of recyclates through adapted post-stabilization to improve the mechanical, sensory and optical properties in order to increase the amount of recyclates used or to enable the substitution of virgin material by recyclates in the first place.
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