Conference Programme Europe

Conference Programme

Don't miss out! Tickets are FREE OF CHARGE and include full access to the SIM Europe conference and exhibition! Hear from 50+ expert speakers, attend keynote addresses, join interactive roundtable debates and meet potential partners and suppliers in the exhibition hall.

Tuesday 21st November 2023

Time Session title Stream
Conference Theatre
09:00
|
09:05

Welcome

General
Conference Theatre
09:05
|
09:25

Keynote: China Hongqiao Group - the pathway from heavy to zero carbon emissions

Listen to Ron Knapp speak about the journey to net zero at China Hongqiao Group

Speaker

Ron Knapp

Adviser, Office of the Chairman

China Hongqiao Group Limited (HK)

Ron joined China Hongqiao Group in January 2020, following 11 years as Secretary General of the International Aluminium Institute (London). Previous roles include Executive Director of the Australian Aluminium Council (2002 to 2008), Chief Executive of the World Coal Institute London (1997 to 2001) and senior positions with the Minerals Council of Australia (1987 to 1996). Prior to these appointments, Ron was an economist with the Australian Government (1976 to 1987). Ron is an Australian with a small beef cattle farm in Australia.

China Hongqiao Group is one of the largest fully integrated aluminum company in the world with extensive activities along the whole production chain, based on major direct investments and long-term strategic partnerships. Production is dominated by operations in China, combined with key resource developments in Indonesia and Guinea.

China Hongqiao attaches great importance environmental protection, energy conservation and sustainable development. with clean green production and higher value products as core business goals. China Hongqiao seeks to continuously improve the full industrial chain by building unique aluminum industry clusters. Central to the industrial cluster philosophy is the development of surrounding enterprises and the cities in which the plants are located

China Hongqiao is committed to helping achieve China’s carbon peak and carbon neutral goals – and has adopted a roadmap to take positive actions to optimize the energy structure, carry out industrial upgrading, and promote low-carbon transformation of the industry. The goal is to achieve peak carbon emissions before 2025 and net-zero carbon emissions in Scope 1 and 2 before 2055.

China Hongqiao Group Limited (HK)

Keynote
Conference Theatre
09:25
|
09:40

Keynote: Henkel Global Supply Chain B.V.

Speaker

Philipp Kolb

Head of Global Environment & Sustainability in Supply Chain of Henkel Consumer Brands

Henkel Global Supply Chain B.V.

  1. In my current role I am responsible for the implementation of our Henkel sustainability strategy in the Supply Chain (specifically the production sites as well as outbound logistics)of our Consumer Brands business unit.

Henkel Global Supply Chain B.V.

Keynote
Conference Theatre
09:40
|
09:55

Keynote TBC

Keynote
Exhibition floor
09:55
|
10:40

Morning Refreshments & Networking

Networking
Conference Theatre
10:40
|
11:25

Panel Discussion: How is industry keeping decarbonisation on track through Europe’s energy crisis and uncertain economic outlook?

  • What are companies doing to take control of their rising energy costs and secure their energy supply?
  • To what degree is the energy crisis accelerating energy-transition plans?
  • How is investment being affected?
  • With high energy prices and the lure of China and the US prompting some business to move production, how real is the risk of deindustrialisation in Europe?
Speaker

Joachim von Schéele

Director Global Commercialization

Linde plc

Joachim von Schéele has a career spanning over more than three decades working with manufacturing industries, predominantly in steel, minerals, and metals production, but also in automotive, and chemical sectors, etc.

With a mix of metallurgical research and consultancy background, Joachim von Schéele joined the industrial gases industry in 1996. Since then, he has served in many different technical and commercial management roles at AGA, BOC, and Linde, and been actively doing business in more than 40 countries around the world. After a decade in Asia, first in India as VP for South Asia and then in China heading Application Development & Sales for Asia-Pacific, he is since 2020 based in Munich, Germany, pursuing his current role at Linde.

Focusing on decarbonisation including use of hydrogen, Joachim von Schéele is very much engaged in driving the sustainability agenda supporting steel, metals, mining, and other hard-to-abate industries to achieve measurable progress and success.

Joachim von Schéele is a well-known speaker and panelist, and has published more than 200 papers, mainly on energy and emission conservation, recycling, and production. He has served as a member of more than 30 boards of companies, associations, and research and education organizations. Joachim von Schéele is included in Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Engineering, and Who’s Who in Asia, and he holds seven patents related to metallurgical production. He is the author of chapters in five books, most recently on China in ‘Touching Hydrogen Future – Tour Around the Globe’.

Joachim von Schéele received his MS and PhD from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1987 and 1992, respectively, and a BA from Stockholm University in 1990.

Linde plc

Speaker

Paul Pearcy

Lead Health Safety and Environment Advisor

British Glass

Paul graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with Environmental Management BSc degree in 2006. Paul has held environmental advisor roles within the waste management, food and drink, consultancy and transmission and distribution sector. Paul also holds various auditor qualifications and NEBOSH general certificate for health and safety. Paul has worked for British Glass since 2017 leading the energy and environment committee with a primary focus on energy and decarbonisation policy. Paul was instrumental in delivering the glass sector Net Zero Strategy which was published in 2021.

He represents the glass industry on the Energy Intensive User Group (EIUG), Emission Trading Group (ETG) and directly with government departments.

British Glass

Speaker

Faidon Prokopios

Manufacturing Decarbonization Director

TITAN Cement International

TITAN Cement International

Panel
Conference Theatre
11:25
|
11:40

Spotlight Session: Optel

Spotlight
Conference Theatre
11:40
|
11:55

Spotlight Session: Speira

Speaker

Shamus Donovan

Head of Sustainability & Environment

Speira

Speira

Spotlight
Conference Theatre
11:55
|
12:10

Spotlight Session: ABB

Speaker

Sanjit Shewale

VP & Global Head for Digital business

ABB Process Industries

Sanjit joined ABB in December 2020 as the Head of Digital for Process Industries, primarily focused on the Global Digital Strategy and Sustainability.

He has 25 years of experience in advanced industrial software and automation across many verticals, including energy, process, and discrete manufacturing.

Prior to joining ABB, Sanjit worked for Honeywell Process Solutions, Danaher Product Identification, and Stelco Ironmaking businesses in different functions.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University and a Master’s degree in Management Sciences from the University of Waterloo, both from Canada

ABB Process Industries

Spotlight
Conference Theatre
12:10
|
13:00

Decarbonisation Projects Update

How are industry frontrunners and early adopters progressing with their decarbonisation journeys and the challenges of implementation?

  • How are businesses remaining competitive whilst transitioning to net zero?
  • How are companies selecting and supporting clean technologies?
  • Out of the lab and into development: what does it take?
  • Lessons on decarbonisation work to date.
Speaker

Conor O’Riain

Managing Director

Ecocem Global

Ecocem Global

Speaker

Faidon Prokopios

Manufacturing Decarbonization Director

TITAN Cement International

TITAN Cement International

Speaker

Laurent Delmotte

Sustainability & Product Stewardship Director

AGC Glass Europe

Laurent Delmotte is Sustainability and Product Stewardship Director for AGC Glass Europe and Project Manager for the Low Carbon glass range. Master of Engineering, (engineering geology, from ULiege), Laurent has 20+years of experience in glass : research in glass composition and raw materials, technical coordination on float glass furnaces, purchasing manager for float raw materials and Procurement senior manager leading corporate purchasing team, to supply European floats, laminating, coater, mirroring, fire-resistant and glass processing lines, now active in sustainability field focused on product stewardship and plants compliance.

AGC Glass Europe

Speaker

Fabian Botz

thyssenkrupp Steel

Panel
Exhibition floor
13:00
|
14:00

Lunch & Networking

Networking
Conference Theatre
14:00
|
14:20

Fireside Chat: How do you succeed in scaling first of a kind, unproven technology?

Join this session to hear from this a pioneer in carbon capture technology and their industry partner on overcoming the challenges of setting up ‘new to the world’ technology at commercial scale.

Speaker

Babette Pettersen

VP Europe

LanzaTech

Babette is the VP Europe for LanzaTech, a pioneer in carbon capture technology that turns waste streams into CarbonSmartTM ethanol to create value as sustainable fuels and chemicals. Before joining LanzaTech, Babette was Director of Business Development at Ginkgo Bioworks, an early stage leader in synthetic biology.

Prior to this, Babette was the Chief Business Development Officer at Capricorn Venture Partners, a European manager of venture capital and equity funds, Chief Commercial Officer for BioAmber, a market leader in renewable chemicals, and VP New Business Development for Performance Materials at Royal DSM. Prior to this, Babette held Marketing & New Business Development roles in different industry groups for over 20 years at Dow Corning.

Babette has a BSc in Biology from Wellesley College, USA and an MBA from INSEAD, France.

LanzaTech

General
Conference Theatre
14:20
|
14:50

Panel Session: How are industrial manufacturers securing the right capital to reach net zero?

  • Where is the funding coming from? What are the most promising transformative green finance instruments for industrials?
  • How to position plans and projects for maximum investability and speed up access to funding?
  • What are lessons learnt from early movers? To what extent can the Sustainable STEEL Principles be applied to other sectors?
Speaker

Erik van Doezum

ING Director Metals, Mining & Fertilizers EMEA and Chair

Sustainable STEEL Principles

Sustainable STEEL Principles

Panel
Conference Theatre
14:50
|
15:05

How Digital Product Passports (DPPs) can help verify sustainability data on the road to the decarbonisation of supply chains

In today's world supply chains are so complex that it is hard to verify what materials and products are produced sustainable, and which are not. Digital technologies hold a crucial part in that verification process.

Creating Digital Product Passports that evolve along the supply chain, ranging from raw materials to finished goods (often many tiers down), can demonstrate a cumulative build up of their sourcing composition as well as associated CO2-emissions.

Join Brian Smits to learn how, through digital traceability of materials, suppliers, OEMs, and other stakeholders can more accurately measure LCA- and carbon footprint data of produced/purchased products which allows them to make more informed- and sustainable decisions.

Speaker

Brian Smits

Business Development Manager

Circularise

Circularise

General
Exhibition floor
15:05
|
15:30

Afternoon Refreshments and Networking

Networking
Conference Theatre
15:30
|
15:45

Spotlight Session: Wolters Kluwer

Spotlight
Conference Theatre
15:45
|
16:30

Meet the Tech Disruptors

These leading innovators will showcase their technology that is in development and share how they are working with industrials on their transition to net zero.

What is driving the success of these early projects?

How are breakthrough start-ups joining forces with industrial manufacturers?

Speaker

Emet Zeitz

Business Developer

Net0

Net0

Speaker

Claes Kollberg

Co-Founder and CTO

CemVision

CemVision

Speaker

Niels Schenk

Chief Technology Officer

BioBTX

BioBTX

Speaker

Niklas Törnkvist

CEO

Magsort

Magsort

Speaker

Dr James Hall

Head of Research

Carbon Clean

Carbon Clean

General
Meeting Room
16:30
|
17:15

Private Roundtable Discussions with Engie Impact, Glass Futures, and more...

Roundtable sessions offer a unique opportunity to come together with your peers in small groups to share best practice and develop solutions to critical challenges facing the hard-to-abate manufacturing sectors.


ROUNDTABLE 1: Hosted by Engie Impact

Managing the Urgency to Achieve Net Zero Manufacturing

Moderated by: Ben Moens, Managing Director for Sustainability Solutions, ENGIE Impact

Successfully developing a feasible yet ambitious energy transformation strategy to address Scope 1 & 2 emissions and helping to accelerate the decarbonisation of the manufacturing industry will have a significant material impact on the growing climate crisis.

And yet, while most businesses are optimistic about their sustainability programmes and capabilities, the fundamentals that enable them to achieve a fully-fledged green transformation—the decarbonisation enablers—are often not yet in place.

This interactive session will provide real-world insights to facilitate efficient, zero-carbon programmes across sites and geographies. We will offer practical advice on key success criteria such as:

• Balancing ambition levels vs costs of implementation
• Leveraging the available energy efficiency opportunities
• Identifying suitable technologies for delivering green heat
• Determining the optimum combination of decarbonisation levers
• Finding the most suitable contractual and financial approaches for implementing your strategy
• Knowing what to consider when developing an action plan for implementing decarbonisation projects

For the manufacturing sector to progress on its decarbonisation journey at the necessary pace and scale, companies need to address these topics to gain confidence in their preparedness for a low-carbon future.



ROUNDTABLE 2: Hosted by Glass Future

Topic TBC

Moderated by: Hallam Wheatley, Collaboration Lead, Glass Futures



Roundtables

Wednesday 22nd November 2023

Time Session title Stream
Conference Theatre
09:00
|
09:15

Industry 4.0 + 5.0: How the next phase of industrialisation will bring better efficiency and drive sustainable outgoings

Speaker

Shebin Jalal

Chief Solution Architect and Global Process Electrification Leader for Energies and Chemicals Segment

Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric

Speaker

Yasmine McColl

Global Business Development Leader for the Chemicals segment

Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric

General
Conference Theatre
09:15
|
09:30

Decarbonising supply chains

Speaker

Renaud Bettin

VP Climate Action

Sweep

As Sweep’s VP Climate Action, Renaud brings to Sweep a decade of experience in the field of carbon offsetting and corporate climate strategy. Committed to helping businesses be a driving force to reach global net zero, he launched the Net Zero initiative reference framework for corporate carbon neutrality and carbon finance website Info Compensation Carbone.

Sweep

General
Conference Theatre
09:30
|
10:00

SIM-PAC LIVE Fireside Chat: Where the rubber meets the road for low emission steel production hosted by Quantillion Technologies and Tata Steel

Join this interview session to hear from Tata Steel and Quantillion on their technical research on decarbonisation methods.

General
Conference Theatre
10:00
|
10:40

Panel Discussion: The role of renewables in the roadmap to net zero

  • What targets are energy-intensive manufacturers setting for renewables use?
  • Backward integration: what role is industry playing in securing clean energy​
  • What infrastructure support and policy measures are needed to drive the deployment of renewable energy and meet industry’s demand for clean electricity?
  • What’s needed in the short term to overcome the bottleneck in projects versus long term vision?
Speaker

Michiel Smets

Lead Buyer Renewable Energy

Borealis

Michiel Smets recently joined Borealis as Lead Buyer Renewable Energy, bringing expertise on renewable energy strategy development and detailed insights in PPA transactions and energy markets. His knowledge on renewable electricity transactions needs to accelerate the sustainable sourcing of energy to meet the 100% green electricity target by 2030 Borealis has set itself. Over the past years, Michiel grew expertise in all types of PPA transactions, driven by different underlying business strategies and resulting in both on- and off-site renewable developments. He held responsibilities in electricity procurement and hedging strategies within the EMEA region, giving him the market insights needed to develop renewable sourcing strategies.

Michiel holds a Master’s degree in Bio-science Engineering from the University of Leuven and a Master’s in General Management from Vlerick Business School.

Borealis

Speaker

Sarim Sheikh

Chief Operating Officer

General Electric (GE) Offshore Wind

Mr. Sarim Sheikh is an experienced global business leader and an independent director with more than two decades of P&L and business leadership experience across energy, transportation, health care and retail sectors. He has held several global and regional leadership positions since joining Shell Group Plc in 1995, in Downstream, Midstream and Renewables and of living and working on 5 continents. In 2012 he joined as President & CEO of GE Industrial businesses in the Central Asia region for Aviation, Health Care, Oil & Gas, Power & Renewables. In 2019, he was appointed the Chief Operating Officer, GE Offshore a start-up within GE.

Mr. Sheikh was named one of the "Best Performing CEOs" by Karachi Stock Exchange and was also awarded the GE Chairman’s Leadership Award. Mr. Sheikh has served on several not for profit boards of charities, industry associations, public companies and government advisory boards. Mr. Sheikh is a global thought leader on energy transition and a passionate advocate its acceleration.

Mr. Sheikh has a B.Sc in Physics and an MBA from London Business School awarded with distinction. He and his wife live with their daughter and son in London.

General Electric (GE) Offshore Wind

Speaker

Emanuele Pingaro

Large Heat Pumps Sales & B.D. Manager

Turboden

Turboden

Panel
Exhibition floor
10:40
|
11:10

Morning Refreshments and Networking

Networking
Conference Theatre
11:10
|
11:25

Session title coming soon....

Speaker

André Jurres

Managing Director

VoltH2

André Jurres is a Belgian-Dutch sustainable entrepreneur with twenty years of experience in the energy sector. From 2002 to 2007, he was founder and CEO of Essent Belgium, one of the first providers of green electricity from wind energy. In 2008 he started NPG Energy for the production of green electricity – from biomass – in the Benelux region. André saw the potential of green hydrogen and founded VoltH2 in 2020. "We will produce green hydrogen from wind energy. After two decades of contributing to more sustainable energy, I am now completing the circle."

VoltH2

General
Conference Theatre
11:25
|
11:40

AIDRES - Advancing industrial decarbonization by assessing the future use of renewable energies in industrial processes

Speaker

Joris Valee

Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek - VITO NV

General
Conference Theatre
11:40
|
11:55

One way to start the industrial decarbonisation journey

Speaker

Neil Simpson

Managing Director

Simpson Combustion & Energy

Neil Simpson Graduated from Napier in Edinburgh with a Bachelors in

Energy Engineering and joined Laidlaw Drew in the Development

Department. The first ever “Simpson Burner” was developed to burn a Low

Calorific Value gas from a wood sourced biomass so 30 years ahead of its

time. It was an interesting time in combustion with the first oxy fuel glass

furnaces being developed. Working closely with BOC helped develop a

portfolio of conical and flat flame oxy oil and gas burners. When

approached to join a competing burner manufacturer BOC invited Neil to

join their Toledo based Glass Team which was developing the CGM crown

fired combustion. When Eclipse Combustion acquired the assets of Laidlaw

Drew their due diligence revealed the products Neil had developed. Neil

joined Eclipse in 2006 as Glass Industry Manager for Europe and worked

out of his home office in the Scottish Borders. Neil briefly rejoined BOC to

Head UK Glass, Steel, Cement and Combustion related applications. In

2014 Neil resigned from BOC to form Simpson Combustion and Energy

Ltd a Consulting company supporting UK and Global Glass manufacturers

and suppliers. In 2015 Neil became one of the CelSian registered trainers

and organised UK based courses. In 2016 Neil started supporting AMETEK

Land in promoting the use of in furnace thermal imaging. With over 20

published patent applications, Neil is a Chartered Member of the Energy

Institute, Member of the Institute of Refractory Engineers, Fellow of the

Society of Glass Technology having Chaired MTC which organises

Furnace Solutions and former Chair of Board of Fellows

Simpson Combustion & Energy

General
Conference Theatre
11:55
|
12:01

Compressed air - the hidden goldmine of energy savings

Speaker

Pascal van Putten

CEO

VPInstruments

Pascal van Putten, CEO and founder of VPInstruments studied Mechanical Engineering at Delft University of Technology and performed his masters’ research project at North Carolina State University. Pascal founded VPInstruments in 1999. VPInstruments offers industrial clients Energy Management solutions for compressed air, technical gases as well as other utilities. VPInstruments produces flow meters for both supply side (wet air) and demand side (typically dry air) down to the point of use and pioneered 3-in-1 sensor technology: All flow meters measure also pressure and temperature. Connected to VPVision monitoring software, they can provide easy insight into the energy consumption and efficiency of a compressed air system. Pascal has almost 25 years of experience in flow measurement, compressed air monitoring and industrial energy management. Pascal lives in Delft together with his wife Marjolijn and three daughters Janneke (who is now studying at Limestone University in SC), Annemarie and Willemijn.

VPInstruments

General
Conference Theatre
12:10
|
12:25

Green Factory Planning

Speaker

Jan Salzwedel

Researcher, Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering

RWTH Aachen University

RWTH Aachen University

General
Conference Theatre
12:25
|
13:00

Mapping industry’s progress on carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS)

Join us to hear how manufacturers are moving forward on their investments in CCUS.

  • What policy and economic incentives have worked and what additional mechanisms are needed to scale up faster?
  • How is industry responding to the challenge of transport and storage related infrastructure?
  • To what extent is collaboration along the value chain creating more economic solutions?
Speaker

Brigitte Jacobs

Senior Business Developer

TNO

TNO

Speaker

Cristiana Ciaraldi

Head of Sustainability EMEA

Holcim

Cristiana Ciaraldi Jolivet is currently Head of Sustainability at Holcim. She is responsible for accelerating the execution of Holcim’s sustainability strategy in the EMEA region on Decarbonization, Circular Economy, Nature and People.

Prior to Holcim, Cristiana managed the Built Environment project at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) where she passionately drove transformation towards net-zero carbon, circular, healthy, inclusive, adaptive and resilient built environment through multi-sector and multistakeholder collaboration. Before the Built Environment project Cristiana has had various roles within the Cement Sustainability Initiative at WBCSD.

Cristiana’s career in sustainability started in environmental NGOs (WWF and Greenpeace) followed by many years as Environment Legal Officer and CSR Manager for Construction Industry’s Trade Associations in France and Italy. She also worked for the Italian Government as a member of the Cabinet of the Environment Minister.

Cristiana holds a Master in European Law (University of Roma Tre) an LLM in International Environmental Law (University of Wales), and a DAS in Management of International Organization (University of Geneva).

Holcim

Speaker

Dr Karsten Büker

thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG

In his current position Karsten Büker is principal chemist and team leader of the Carbon2Chem® project at the division of Technology, Innovation and Sustainabilty of thyssenkrupp Uhde, the chemical engineering unit of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions. In addition he is leading R&D projects dealing with catalyst technology for the production and conversion of synthesis gas to hydrogen, ammonia and methanol. Karsten Büker has more than 20 years of experience in industrial catalysis among them 4 years in the refining industry. He holds a PhD in physical chemistry from the Free University of Berlin.

thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG

Speaker

Dr. Philipp Stadler

Head of Carbon Processing

Rohrdorfer Zement

Rohrdorfer Zement

General
Exhibition floor
13:00
|
14:00

Lunch and Networking

Networking
Conference Theatre
14:00
|
14:15

How digital material passports are providing Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) transparency (Scope 3)

How is the leading chemical company taking its first step towards a digital twin with digital material test certificates for engineering plastics? Hear from them on the lessons learned on implementation and the benefits of traceable material data on quality and sustainability in the manufacturing industry in terms of processes, automation of quality assurance, exchange of Scope 3 emissions and in terms of verification for future regulatory requirements? How can the industry create common standards here?

Speaker

Stefan Grüll

Founder and CEO

S1SEVEN GmbH

S1SEVEN GmbH

General
Conference Theatre
14:15
|
14:30

Driving demand for sustainable materials: A sustainable net zero way of living needs carbon neutral products

Carbon neutral products can only be a produced in decarbonised supply chains, with reliable availability of low carbon materials, designed for each product application and for product and material re-use.

Policy can help drive ambitious innovation.

New policies to create markets for low-carbon basic materials are badly needed to incentivise innovation that is still required to decarbonise virgin basic materials production. To be effective, these policies will need to address all stages of the industrial production value chain, including incentivising innovation and facilitating market diffusion through increased demand downstream.

But as, if not more, important, market-pull and supply chain collaboration is also vital to initiate transformation.

Commitment from key end users will create a significant shift in demand for sustainable products and materials. This will drive the supply chain to decarbonise through specification and procurement of innovative low-carbon materials, both incentivising market transformation and ensuring that any new innovations have a ready market for deployment.

I will present case studies from world leading UK supply chains, demonstrating the transformative impact that matching policy pushes and market pulls can create for sustainable manufacturing with wide ranging applicability across all of the foundation industries and manufacturing sectors.

Speaker

Dr. Sarah Connolly

Innovation Lead

Innovate UK

Sarah is an Innovation Lead at Innovate UK, supporting the Foundation Industries to be sustainable and internationally competitive through collaborative R&D competitions and tailored sector support. This includes social science aspects, addressing the future skills gaps, ensuring the sector is inclusive and captures diverse innovation and workforce, tracking societal behaviours and breaking down systemic innovation barriers.

Sarah is a Materials Engineer by background and has been working in the Materials Processing Industry for the past decade, initially conducting research at both the University of Oxford and Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, before joining Innovate UK in 2020.

Innovate UK

General
Conference Theatre
14:45
|
15:30

How the manufacturing industry are tackling circularity to drive value

Join this session to hear from businesses on what they are doing to create circular loops in industrial production.

  • What goals are industries setting for the recirculation of materials and minerals?
  • How are producers securing access to sufficient waste material for recirculation?
  • What progress is being made in fostering collaborations across multiple industries to increase circularity and where is additional work needed?
Speaker

Dr. Sarah Connolly

Innovation Lead

Innovate UK

Sarah is an Innovation Lead at Innovate UK, supporting the Foundation Industries to be sustainable and internationally competitive through collaborative R&D competitions and tailored sector support. This includes social science aspects, addressing the future skills gaps, ensuring the sector is inclusive and captures diverse innovation and workforce, tracking societal behaviours and breaking down systemic innovation barriers.

Sarah is a Materials Engineer by background and has been working in the Materials Processing Industry for the past decade, initially conducting research at both the University of Oxford and Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, before joining Innovate UK in 2020.

Innovate UK

Speaker

Ira Brueckner

Senior Manager Sustainability Strategy

Heidelberg Materials

Ira Brueckner is Senior Manager Sustainability Strategy at Heidelberg Materials, based in Heidelberg, Germany. At Heidelberg Materials, she assists and reports to the CSO regarding sustainability strategy and leads the global circularity strategy implementation. In her professional career to date, Ira has gained experience in waste and wastewater treatment as well as change and strategy management. She is a Waste (B. Sc.) and Environmental (M. Sc.) Engineer and holds a PhD from RWTH Aachen University, Germany.

Heidelberg Materials

Speaker

Chris Holcroft

Principal Technologist

Glass Technology Services

Chris is a leading member of the projects team and has worked in glass R&D since 2005. Prior to that, he developed products for the food industry. Chris co-ordinates a team of eight researchers at Glass Technology services and participates in a wide variety of projects ranging from desk-based research through to practical laboratory, pilot scale development, site trials and testing. He also regularly undertakes non-standard testing and consultancy work.

His background is in marine biology and environmental science but has wide-ranging interests from recycling and environmental improvement to novel uses of glass in biomedical applications, energy generation and photonics. Recent initiatives have included waste and energy minimisation projects for European Glass Manufacturers, the Horizon 2020 FISSAC Construction industry Industrial symbiosis project, and developing a manufacturing facility for novel biomedical and photonic glasses.

Chris’ background in environmental science has led to a focus on projects that reduce the environmental impact of the glass supply chain either through efficiency improvements in the glass manufacturing process, increased use of recycled materials, and the development of products with lower environmental impacts. Chris has worked as technical lead on container recycling projects in the UK and Russian Federation, and circular economy projects in the construction and architectural glass supply chain across Europe. He has also carried out studies into the technological and economic potential for low grade post consumer glass. He has delivered training courses on glass recycling and environmental improvement in the UK and internationally.

Glass Technology Services

Speaker

Thomas Alan Kwan

Director of Sustainability Research

Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric

Speaker

Dr Andrew Minson

Concrete and Sustainable Construction

Global Concrete and Cement Association (GCCA)

Andrew leads GCCA’s work promoting the sustainability value of concrete in the future of construction. His role includes improving the understanding of concrete’s lifecycle and its role in the circular economy.

He joined from Mineral Products Association in the UK where he was Executive Director for both The Concrete Centre and British Precast.

Global Concrete and Cement Association (GCCA)

Speaker

Özge Guvenir

Senior Business Manager, Circular Economy Business

SABIC

Özgeholds a MSc in Chemical Engineering. She has 17 years of experience in thepetrochemical industry in various roles including R&D in the field of energy and yieldimprovement for various petrochemical processes as well as strategic investment planning.Since 2015, Özge has been working at SABIC. She started in the Feedstocks and CrackerTechnology team and then moved to the Business Strategy team responsible with olefins andcarbon neutrality. She currently works in the Circular Economy Business team as a businessmanager where she leads a portfolio of activities to achieve the commitment of SABIC for 1million metric tons TRUCIRCLETM solutions by 2030. To make this happen, she isresponsible with business development via the collaborations along the value chain.

SABIC

General

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