Nonwovens for Society

Aurel Ciobanu-Dordeais a director in charge of Circular Economy in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment since May 2022.

Between 2014 and 2022 he worked as a director in charge of enforcement, cohesion and the European Semester in DG Environment. Before that he was a director for Equality in the Directorate-General for Justice since 2011, in charge of equality and fight against discrimination, after having been director for Fundamental Rights and EU Citizenship within the same DG and in DG Justice, Freedom and Security since June 2009.

He joined the European Commission in 2009. He holds an LL.M. from the University of Illinois (US) and a Ph.D. from the University of Bucharest (RO).

Håkan Nordkvist is the former Head of Sustainability innovation in IKEA Group. He has been instrumental for IKEA to achieve its People and planet positive strategy. He built and led sustainability innovation for 11 years where he combined sustainability and innovation to build new businesses for IKEA.

He and his team built the IKEA Clean energy service business, now operational in more than 14 countries across the world, spearheaded the food innovation agenda in IKEA around plant-based proteins, urban/vertical farming to locally produce food and the food waste initiatives. He led the circular business agenda in IKEA innovating and developing new circular business models like Furniture as a Service and 2nd hand.

Håkan was one of the founders and chairman of Launch Nordic, an innovation and collaboration platform created together with NASA, Nike, USAID and Novozymes. He has also served on the board of BoKlok, an affordable housing company building sustainable houses to affordable prices. He has also served in several internal boards and investment committees.

Today he combines his time between board, advisory and consultancy roles, Among others he is in the advisory board of The Canopy, a University of Cambridge Institute for sustainability Leadership accelerator.

Els will present "Transmitting product sustainability messages: learnings, needs and practices by retail and wholesale".

• The role of retail and wholesale in advising and nudging consumers and suppliers
• Accessing the necessary data to communicate correctly
• Business examples responding to consumer requests for information

Els Bedert is director product policy & sustainability at EuroCommerce, the European voice for retail and wholesale, which she joined in 2012. In this role, she is leading EuroCommerce activities in a range of policies aimed at improving product safety, quality and integrity for food and non-food products, including the farm-to-fork strategy and the broader sustainability issues such as the circular economy, deforestation and due diligence.

Previously, Els worked at the European Commission’s Directorate for Enlargement, as team leader responsible for TAIEX assistance on EU law related to agriculture, veterinary, phytosanitary and food safety to public administrations in (potential) candidate countries. She also dedicated a part of her career to development cooperation to improve food safety and food security for livestock keepers in Africa.

David joined Georgia-Pacific in 2013 to accelerate the company’s efforts to provide sustainable products solutions. He now serves as Georgia Pacific’s Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) Stewardship Strategy Director, where his passion for and knowledge of the responsible stewardship of natural resources helps the company better serve its customers and constituents.

His work encompasses support of Georgia-Pacific’s building products, packaging, and pulp businesses, as well as oversight of the company’s forest stewardship policies and certifications. In his 10 years at Georgia-Pacific, David has helped drive activities that meaningfully reduce environmental impacts and protect natural resources.

Prior to joining Georgia-Pacific, David’s work included forest & habitat management, responsible procurement, and implementation of certification programs.

David is a Registered Forester, and he holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Kennesaw State University and a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources Management from The Ohio State University.

As Sustainability Director at Beaulieu International Group, a global leader in flooring solutions, engineered materials and polymers, I lead the development and implementation of our Route2030 sustainability strategy across the business.

I am passionate about finding solutions that balance economic, social and environmental needs.

With over 20 years of experience in sustainability, HSE, and innovation within energy, chemicals, and retail sectors, I have a proven track record of creating value through sustainable development, turning ideas into commercial solutions, working across functions to reduce environmental impact and to make positive changes.

David Carroll joined Plastics Europe, the pan-European association of plastics manufacturers, as Director External Affairs in May 2020.

David’s role involves supporting plastics producers in creating the necessary supportive policy and regulatory framework for the industry’s circularity and climate transitions. He leads the association’s advocacy and engagement with governments and institutions in Brussels and coordinates the advocacy efforts of Plastics Europe’s teams across Europe.

Prior to this role, David worked at as a consultant at Hill + Knowlton and Teneo, helping companies, governments and trade associations facing challenging external issues with strategic positioning. David studied law in Cork, Strasbourg and Bruges and began his career in the European Parliament.

Anne-Gaelle will present "Industrial biotechnology and sustainable biomaterials":

• What is industrial biotechnology?
• How does it enable the bioeconomy
• What is needed to increase market uptake?



Anne-Gaelle joined EuropaBio in May 2023. Prior to joining EuropaBio, she worked for 20 years on sustainability and environmental policies in several trade associations representing the chemicals and plastics industries, including the Chemicals Industry Association (CIA) and most recently, Plastics Europe both in Brussels and in the UK. Anne-Gaelle holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London.

With an 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.

Christian has pioneered the PET recycling. As from 1997, he has for 25 years, developed and been the Managing Director of Sorepla; the French 50 kt/pa PET&HDPE recycling leader which was sold to Indorama in 2018. He is very familiar with the PET and the Polyolefin Industry.

He has been a member of Petcore since 1993, became a director, treasurer and managing director from 2016 until January 2023. Also, for 15 years, he has been Vice-President of PRE (Plastics Recyclers Europe), Chairman and founder of its HDPE/PP WG and Vice-Chairman of the PET WG until 2017.

As of January 1st, Christian Crépet moved into an ambassador role for PETCORE EUROPE and became an honorary member of the Board. He is now consulting for packaging circularity in Africa with highly successful recycling results, in Central Europe, for EU and non-EU Plastics association. He was in 2023 a speaker on recycling in Taiwan, Hongkong, Cameroon, Egypt and Brussels. He has regular contacts with China. He is now grasping Textile to Textile recycling on behalf of PETCORE EUROPE.

Bruno will make a presentation on "Sustainability lessons to be learned from nature ".

Bruno De Wilde is the Managing Director Business Development at Normec OWS in Ghent, Belgium working there for more than 30 years already.

In this capacity, he manages biodegradation, composting and digestion tests and consultancy services, supervising a team of 105 people. Besides he is an active participant of several ISO and CEN working groups and yearly gives about 20 presentations at international conferences and company workshops.

He took his MSc in Agricultural Engineering at the State University of Ghent in 1983.

Murat, M Sc in Advertising and Communications, has over 10 years of association management experience through various management consultancy positions within MCI, following 5 years as advertising sales executive for The Economist. He is fluent in English and French, with an excellent command of Arabic and Turkish. 

Felicitas Frick holds a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the Technical University of Aachen (RWTH). In the master program she specialized in the field of recycling and waste management.

 Felicitas Frick has experience with recycling technologies, end-of-life management and circular economy strategies. Through public and industry projects at Ramboll, she gained in depth knowledge of various waste and product policies. Knowledge on environmental impact assessment, circularity benchmarking, regulatory mapping and waste audits are further key assets of her.

 Felicitas Frick has a strong thematic focus on reuse, repair and recycling of plastics, packaging, batteries and WEEE. As such, Felicitas Frick is involved in international, EU and national projects.

Bettina is a Programme Officer at the United Nations Environment Programme, where she leads the work on sustainbility and circularity in the textile value chain. This includes development of knowledge products (such as UNEP‘s 2020 Global Stocktaking report, 2023 Global Roadmap report and the Sustainable Fashion Communicaton Playbook), facilitation of an expert community, and coordination of country-projects (such as under the EU-funded InTex project).

Jochem is currently the Vice President, Managing Director Europe, Middle East, Africa and India at Hollingsworth and Vose (H&V).

He joined H&V in September 2007.

Between 1990 and 2007 he held different managerial positions at Hoechst AG/Clariant and Celanese and worked in Australia, Singapore, Switzerland and Spain.

Jochem holds a Master Degree in Business Administration (University of Cologne, Germany).

Jana Hošková has been working for the European Commission since 2014. She is currently Deputy Head of Unit in consumer policy and sustainability, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers working on greening the Union horizontal consumer law, updating the Union law on consumer credit and distance contracts for financial services, and on developing consumer policies, especially sustainable consumption, vulnerable consumers, and consumer education. Between 2014 and 2021 she led a team actively promoting EU values, including fundamental rights, rule of law, and equality by providing EU financial support mostly to civil society organisations, and public authorities. Before joining the European Commission, Ms Hošková led performance audits in the field of energy, research and external actions at the European Court of Auditors. Ms Hošková studied economics in Bratislava, Slovakia and obtained her PhD in international relations.

Taina Kamppuri is working as a research team leader in team called Textile and nonwoven materials. The team is part of Sustainable products and materials business area at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Her research activities have included topics ranging from cellulose based textile fibres, nonwoven processing with foam forming and other technical applications for textile fibres. Recently, she has focused on development of sustainable nonwovens and circularity of textiles.

Emmanuel Katrakis joined EuRIC in September 2014, at the time the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation was created. Since then, Emmanuel is working on the steady development of the Confederation and its efficient organization to act as the trusted interface between the recycling industry and European institutions.

Prior to joining, he worked in an international law firm and two trade associations where he gained an in-depth experience in association management. Owing to his presence in Brussels for over ten years, he has developed a strong knowledge of European affairs and advocacy as well as a proven track-record in defending various industrial sectors. Emmanuel is a regular speaker in international conferences dealing with recycling and a member of different expert groups set up by European institutions aiming at supporting the transition towards a more circular economy.   Emmanuel is graduated in European law from the College of Europe in Bruges.

20 years of experience from politics and communications in highly profiled roles within the Swedish Government, the European Parliament, TeliaSonera, Novamedia Sverige and now at leading global hygiene and health company Essity. Backed up by qualified university educations in Political Science and Economics.

Matteo works at the intersection of public policy, advocacy, comms, law and sustainability matters. He leads the FSC's engagement to the EU Institutions and leverage partnerships with NGOs, companies, and voluntary sustainability standards to support the EU Green Deal agenda. Italians, he holds an LL.M at the College of Europe, Bruges.

Stéphanie will co-present with Alexis Porcher (Lenzing): "Closing the (Bio)Cycle – Joining Forces for a successful Diaper Composting Solution".

• Industrial compostable diapers – how a brand and a raw material supplier can work together for the development of next generation diapers
• Ecological transition - Next steps on a journey towards sustainable bio-cycle solutions in the AHP-industry

Passionate about the circular economy and reducing our impact on the planet, Stéphanie embarked on an entrepreneurial adventure with her husband as a co-founder of Mundao. Their startup is dedicated to the development and commercialization of industrially compostable absorbent hygiene products, a true revolution in the sector!

Federico Pallini was born in Milan in 1969. He is a Civil Engineer by training at the Politecnico University in Milan and holds a post degree in Marketing.

Following various experiences in companies operating in the construction industry worldwide, in 2001 Federico joined the Freudenberg Performance Materials Group as Head of Business Development and Integrated Logistics of the Roofing Business. In 2005 he was appointed Business Director and Global Supply Chain Manager.

Over the years he worked closely with customers ensuring Freudenberg continued global leadership in the roofing markets. Since 2015 he is SVP and General Manager of the Global Business Division Building & Construction. 

Alexis will co-present with Stéphanie Mazet (Mundao): "Closing the (Bio)Cycle – Joining Forces for a successful Diaper Composting Solution".

Education in Fluid Mechanics Engineering, with 20+ years experience in paper and nonwovens industries. Alexis is passionate about developping plastic free products and markets with low environmental & end-of-life impact.

Marta Roche Díez is the Sustainability and Technical Affairs Manager for EDANA, the leading global association advocating the benefits of nonwovens for society, a position she has held since January 2022.

Based in Brussels, Marta manages EDANA’s sustainability and technical affairs work across all nonwovens applications. This includes updating the Nonwovens Standard Procedures, as well as supporting the development of international standards – both ISO and CEN – including technical work as necessary. This work is key, as standards provide a reference point for the nonwovens industry and help to ensure fair trade.

Prior to joining EDANA, Marta spent four years in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry, primarily dealing with homecare products. There she gained experience in product development, consumer understanding, and packaging technology. Having originally studied environmental science, Marta is currently finalizing a second master’s degree in Sustainability and CSR.

Rodrigo Rosati is a Director - Principal Scientist at Procter & Gamble, working in the Baby Care R&D at Schwalbach Technical Center, Germany.

Rodrigo joined Procter & Gamble in 1999, after taking his MSc in Chemical Engineering at the University of Salerno, Italy. Since then, Rodrigo has worked in different research fields of diapers and absorbent products, including absorbent core design, porous media fluid flow modelling and sustainability.

Specifically on sustainability, Rodrigo has been working in different areas of diaper sustainability, spanning from sustainable raw materials and sustainable product design to end-of-life.

Besides, externally to P&G, Rodrigo has been a Founding Member and a Council Member of InterPore (the International Society for Porous Media).

Lisa will present "The role of digital technologies in enabling circular supply networks through product life cycle traceability – opportunities and challenges":

• Circular economy and digitalisation opportunities
• Industrial cases of circular implementations leveraging traceability
• Outlook on circular trends and emerging technologies for traceability



Lisa is a third year PhD candidate at the Institute for Manufacturing and Management at the University of Cambridge. Her research explores the use of digital technologies in the creation circular ecosystems with MNEs across different industries such as textile, EVs, industrial automation, heavy-duty construction and automotive. Alongside her PhD she supports the Circular Transformation of Industries as a research fellow at the World Economic Forum.

Hugo Maria Schally holds a doctorate of law from the University of Graz/Austria and is a graduate of the Vienna Diplomatic Academy. Worked for the United Nations Development Programme, the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe before joining the European Commission.

He was most recently responsible for the development and implementation of the EU Circular Economy Action Plan and for the collaboration with international environmental organisations and multilateral environmental agreements. He currently serves as EU lead negotiator in negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity and for a new Global Agreement on Plastics.

Ines Schiller is a certified marine guide, social entrepreneur (FOGMA, MeinGrundeinkommen, CellAg Germany), screenwriter/film producer (LOVE STEAKS, TIGER GIRL), philosopher and neuroscientist, with a passion for feminism and biotechnology. As an ocean lover, saving the oceans is close to her heart; as a menstruator, she finally wants a product that is sustainable and that she can truly rely on. She founded Vyld because she believes seaweed has the potential to inspire a rethinking of our production systems.

As Senior Vice President of Baby Care Europe at Procter & Gamble, Ranya leads the European operations, innovation and brand building strategies for the company’s biggest brand, Pampers.

In her 30 years at Procter & Gamble, Ranya has held a variety of local, regional and global positions in different product categories, with a proven track record in managing large organizations and designing disruptive innovations. Ranya has spent a large part of her career leading iconic brands such as Always, Tampax and Pampers, where she has gained a strong expertise in the Absorbent Hygiene Products category.

In her different roles, Ranya has made it her mission to drive purpose-led businesses and champion campaigns on gender equality and children’s health. Examples include the 15-year partnership between UNICEF and Pampers to combat maternal neonatal tetanus, and the groundbreaking #LikeAGirl and #EndPeriodPoverty campaigns for the brand Always, which advocates for the education and empowerment of women and girls.

Ranya holds a degree in marketing management from the American College of Greece. She lives in Switzerland with her husband and has 2 children.

From January 2023, as NatureWorks Senior EU Public Affairs Manager, Celmira represents the company on public and legislative affairs. Her responsibilities include Government relations, product Circular Economy options, feedstock and biomass sustainability aspects, bioeconomy and interface with relevant industry associations and external stakeholders.

Previous to NatureWorks worked in several Operation Divisions and Function Units in BASF.

Her experience and knowledge in the past 19 years include activities in the Agricultural sector, R&D, biological dossiers of crop protection products, sustainable agriculture and green plant biotechnology. In 2014, was delegated to the Governmental relations office in Brussels during the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

In 2016, was seconded to Brussels as Senior Manager EU Corporate Communications & Governmental Relations, Innovation and Technology Policy. In 2018, joined the Operation Division, Performance Materials – Specialty Polymers, Global Market Development Biopolymers. In 2020 returned to Italy and was responsible for the Advocacy for the BASF Italy group and followed the EU project for the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability.

Celmira holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa.

Venetia Spencer works in the Sustainability and Public Affairs team at Borealis Group - one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and sustainable base chemicals and polyolefin solutions. In Europe, Borealis is also an innovative leader in polyolefins recycling. A self-confessed environmental and EU policy geek she has a background in science, with a Physics degree from Imperial College, London. A passionate advocate for evidence based policies that help companies deliver a more sustainable future for people and the planet.

She’s been engaged in the transition to a circular economy for plastics since 2019 - both in her current role at Borealis and previously as Secretary-General of Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform (PCEP) a value chain association driving circularity. Previously Venetia worked at one of the largest public affairs consultancies in Brussels supporting clients on environment policy at the EU and International level. As well as working with global companies driving transformational change through a focus on corporate purpose. She is a proud European with British and Belgian nationality.

Gil Stevens is the External Relations and Sustainability Director for EDANA, the international Association representing the nonwoven and related industries, a position he has held since March 2018.

With a Master’s Degree in Product Development and in Environmental Science, Gil started his career as product engineer in the building industry. Pursuing his passion for sustainability, Gil joined the Cradle to Cradle Platform in 2012, where he has been guiding companies in different sectors, such as textiles, cleaning agents, building, office equipment towards the integration of C2C and preparing them for a circular economy. As sustainability coach at Sustenuto, Gil supported organisations in developing and implementing a sustainability strategy. At the beverage group Spadel, Gil’s responsibilities included the coordination of local CSR representatives at the various European sites and external CSR communication. During his career, Gil also concluded an Executive MBA programme at the Antwerp Management School.

Gil currently has responsibility for managing sustainability and maintaining external relations for EDANA. He manages several of the association’s Working Groups.

Graeme Taylor heads the Food and Agriculture practice in the Brussels office. With 20 years of experience, Graeme has worked right across the public and private spectrum, with roles in national government; as a diplomat representing a national government in Brussels; in the European Commission; Director of Public Affairs for a Brussels-based industry association; and, latterly as the global head of media relations and public affairs for a major multinational company. In that time he has worked on a range of issues from reputation management to product defence – and has advised CEOs, Ambassadors, Ministers and Commissioners. Awarded “European Public Affairs Professional of the Year” in 2018, Graeme has a unique insight into the workings of EU, national and global decision making, and the imperatives that drive and impact business, and relishes putting that experience to work – together with his passion and energy for food and agriculture issues - to deliver the best outcomes for our clients.

Dr. Prasad is a Nonwoven professional with expertise in Textile Fibres. With interest in developing sustainable hygiene products, he has over 6 years of industry experience including Global organization such as Johnson & Johnson Consumer. He was specifically involved in the product development of Feminine Hygiene Products. He is currently associated with Birla Cellulose working on Viscose Fibre Innovations for absorbent hygiene products.

Gustaf Tobieson is Application Marketing Manager (AMM) - Consumer Products at Borealis and responsible for extrusion coating and fibres and meltblown.

• Lives 2 hours north of Gothenburg at the west part of Sweden
• Over 20 years of experience from several commercial roles at Borealis and before with Volvo Cars
• Several commercial roles at Borealis and since 2015 Application Marketing Manager (AMM) - Consumer Products at Borealis responsible for extrusion coating, fibres and meltblown
• Focusing on finding solutions for customer needs addressing Circular Economy (CES), performance and product properties

I have over 10 years of experience researching social and environmental risks in global supply chains. My work in recent years has mostly been policy- and practice-oriented, and has involved collaborations with a wide range of stakeholders, including business federations, civil society, policy-makers, public buyers, and individual companies. Through a wide range of projects, I am dedicated to guiding these organizations through the complex world of responsible business conduct.

Dr. Ross Ward is responsible for the commercial development of the business. He oversees marketing, sales, product development and customer service activities. As a result, he has a unique insight into the nonwoven industry. With over 10 years at NIRI, Ross has significantly contributed to the growth of the company. He’s been part of a variety of consultancy roles, including business development, operations and technical management.

Ross obtained a MSc and an EPSRC iCASE funded PhD from the University of Leeds. He also holds a BSc(Hons) in Sports Technology from Loughborough University. His PhD was on developing novel materials for military CBRNe protective clothing, funded by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). While completing his full time PhD, Ross also worked. He served as a freelance R&D consultant for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service (GMFRS). Ross also project managed a series of cutting edge medical innovation projects for NIRI.

During a career spanning over 25 years in the public and private sector Andrew has focussed on developing integrated approaches to address complex social issues. At Croplife International this includes a focus on the management of empty pesticide container management in which mainly plastic packaging is returned, collected and managed with associated risks managed. Since 2005 over a million tonnes of plastic have been removed from the environment through self-financing and sustainable systems.

Miriam Weber will give a presentation on "How does your biodegradable plastic behave in the environment?"

Dr. Miriam Weber is a marine biologist and director of HYDRA Marine Sciences GmbH, Germany. For the last 15 years she has been leading research on the biodegradation of plastic in the open environment with focus on the marine ecosystem, meanwhile also tackling freshwater and soil. Together with various partners from the EU, and in projects with public administrations, academia, private institutions, NGOs and industry her team has been developing and conducting tests in the field, in mesocosms and in the laboratory.

Dr. Weber has also been contributing to the introduction of several ISO standards on this matter and the SAPEA (Scientific Advice for Policy by European Academics) evidence review report on ‘Biodegradability of Plastic in the Open Environment’.