Speakers
Circular Valley Convention 2025
Our top speakers
The Circular Valley Convention brings together over 100 renowned speakers who share their expertise and experiences. These thought leaders from business, science, politics and society offer valuable insights and inspire with their visions and innovative projects. Get to know the top speakers here.
Jörg Deppmeyer
CEO
Der Grüne Punkt Holding GmbH & Co. KG – A member company of the Green Dot Group
Liam Condon
CEO
Johnson Matthey plc
Dr. Christine Lemaitre
CEO
DGNB GmbH German Sustainable Building Council
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Holger Hanselka
President
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Dr. Thomas Stoffmehl
Speaker of the Executive Board
Vorwerk SE & Co. KG
Lecture info to follow
Katja Busch
CCO DHL and Head of CSI
(DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation)
Oliver Krischer
Minister
Ministry of the Environment, Nature and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Lecture info to follow
Sean Jones
Chief Sustainability Officer
Microsoft Germany
Dr. Carla Seidel
Senior Vice President
BASF SE
Dr. Ralf Düssel
CEO Plastics Europe Deutschland e.V.
Head of Sustainability Evonik
Lecture info to follow
Dr. Jonas Dreger
Senior Manager Environmental Initiatives EMEIA
Apple
Ulrike Sapiro
Chief Sustainability Officer
Henkel
Darren West
Global Head of Circular Economy solutions
SAP
Dietmar Focke
CEO
Lufthansa Industry Solutions
Dipl. Ing. Gürsel Zorlu
Chief Growth Officer
PGS Group
Smail Alhilali
Chief, Division of Circular Economy & Green Industry
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Prof. Dr. Alexander Sauer
Institute Director
Fraunhofer IPA
Dr. Claas Oehlmann
CEO
BDI-Initiative Circular Economy
Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e. V.
Prof. Dr. Simon Lux
Managing Director
Fraunhofer Research Institution for Battery Cell Production FFB
Dr. Timo Fleßner
Senior Vice President, Manufacturing API & Medical Devices Lead
Bayer AG
Claudia Wegener
CIO
Interzero Circular Solutions Germany GmbH
Jochen Bechtold
Managing Director
Capgemini Engineering
Prof. Dr. André Bardow
Professor
ETH Zürich
Dr. Martin Sonnenschein
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Gerrit Kisters
CEO
Schüttflix Group
Joe Murphy
Executive Lead – Business Network
Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Rebecca Tauer
Team Lead Circular Economy
WWF Deutschland
Karin Huber-Heim
City of Vienna
Endowed Professorship for Circular Economy & transformative business models
Dr. Carsten Gerhardt
Chairman
Circular Valley Foundation
Lecture info to follow
Prof. Manfred Renner
Head of Institute
Fraunhofer UMSICHT
Wolfram N. Diener
Chairman of the Management Board
Messe Düsseldorf GmbH
Lecture info to follow
Dr. Daniel Schwaab
SVP Strategy
TOMRA
Prof. Dr. Philip Leistner
Head of Institute
Fraunhofer-IBP
Thomas Nyhsen
Member of the Board
STRABAG AG
Dr. Jan Sültemeyer
Global Sustainability Leader
Avient Corporation
Dr. Christoph Steger
Chief Sales Officer
Delfort AG
Prof. Dr. Andrea Büttner
Executive Director
Fraunhofer-Institut für Verfahrenstechnik und Verpackung IVV
Dr. Markus Seidel
Head of Research Circular Economy
BMW Group
Markus Bangen
CEO
Duisburger Hafen AG
Benno Weißner
Project Manager
ZENIT – Zentrum für Innovation und Technik in NRW / NRW.EUROPA
Dr. Albrecht Haase
CEO
GEFA BANK GmbH
André Rolfes
Head of Sustainable Finance & CSR
GEFA BANK GmbH
Dr. Armgard Wippler
Deputy Director General
Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz
Lecture info to follow
Prof. Dr. Uwe Clausen
Director
Fraunhofer IML
Jochen Grönegräs
CEO
Bundesverband Flachglas e.V.
Michael Elstner
Technical Advisory Service Manager
AGC Glass Europe
and Executive Board
Bundesverband Flachglas e.V.
Dr. Patrick Bergmann
Managing Director
Madaster Germany
Hanna Steffen
Project Engineer
Kunststoff-Institut für die mittelständische Wirtschaft NRW GmbH (K.I.M.W.)
Marc Hetzer
Director, Business Consulting, Circular Ecosystems
EY Consulting GmbH
Martin Friedrich
Senior Scientist Fraunhofer Institut für Materialfluss und Logistik
Jasper Steinhausen
Founder
Business With Impact
Gert Callaerts
Packaging Innovation Coordinator
Bayer Crop Science
Dominik Campanella
Co-Founder
Concular
Lecture info to follow
Pradeep Pinakatt
Managing and Labor Director
Flughafen Düsseldorf GmbH
Frederik Verhelst
Head of Materials – Business Innovation Center
Lhoist Europe
Dr. Rudy Rulkens
Principal Scientist
Envalior
Dr. Caroline Cassignol
Expert Circularity for Simulation and Digital Twin at Foundational Technology at Siemens
Siemens AG
Nicola Lelli
Senior Advisor
Alliance to End Plastic Waste
Linda Dierke
Head of Development & Collaborations
Effizienz-Agentur NRW
Maximilian Lehmann
CEO
fainin
Alexandra Kick
Co-founder
Thinkubator
Henning Reuter
CEO
Siegfried Jacob Metallwerke
Prof. Dr. Boris Otto
Director
Fraunhofer ISST
Dr. Nicole Freiberger
Project coordinator
Effizienz-Agentur NRW
Jana Rödiger
Project coordinator
Effizienz-Agentur NRW
Dr. Florian Geistmann
Managing Director
Shimadzu Deutschland GmbH
Sarah Osterholt
Sustainability Officer
Hoermann KG
Lecture info to follow
Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller-Kirschbaum
Chief Scientist
Circular Valley
Matthias Lesch
Managing Director
Pöppelmann Holding GmbH & Co. KG
Georg Pescher
Managing Director DBNL
Alpla
Gunda Rachut
Executive Board
ZSVR – Central Agency Packaging Register
Christian Eigen
Deputy CEO
Medion AG (Lenovo)
Volker Weßels
Head of Sustainability
IBA
Elliana Jensen-Abieva
CEO
CircularTech-Global Digital Product Passport Community
Jens Stadter
CEO
Jokey SE
Ralph Hopfensitz
Executive Senior Vice President Global Technology / CTO
LEONHARD KURZ Stiftung & Co. KG
Simone Mosca
CEO
Mosca GmbH
Fridolin Pflüger
Managing Director
HolyPoly GmbH
Dr. Peter Schniering
Founder
Future Cleantech Architects
Lecture info to follow
Philip Bittermann
Editor-in-chief
Hüthig Medien
Andreas Vogt
CEO
Vogt-Plasic GmbH
Dr. Andreas Leitner
Senior Vice President Innovation & Technology
OMV AG
Dr. Dorothea Pohlmann
CTO Sustainability
Capgemini Engineering
Dr. Jan Wenker
Group Director Sustainability & Innovation
Brüninghoff GmbH & Co. KG
Ljubisav Matejevic
Group CEO
InPerson Group
Prof. Dr. Henning Wilts
Head of Circular Economy Department
Wuppertal Institute
Nicole Kolomyzev
Cooperations & Partnerships Manager
Janado GmbH
Prof. Dr. Johannes Ganster
Division Director Biopolymers
Fraunhofer IAP
Ute Spring
EMEA R&D Director Packaging & Specialty Plastics
Dow Chemical
Lecture info to follow
Sven Fischer
General Manager Krall+Roth Services GmbH&Co.KG
Bety Chu
Head of Business Unit Sustainable Transformation
NRW.Global Business GmbH
Florian Schnitzler
Head of Startup unit
NRW.Global Business GmbH
Prof. Lars M. Blank
Professor
RWTH Aachen University
Janpeter Beckmann
Funding Advisor Sustainability and Circular Economy
NRW.BANK, Business Development Advisory Center (BCW)
Dr. André Schwarz
Director Marketing & Documentation
EyeC GmbH
Adrien Serres
Country Manager Germany
CircularX
Martin Braunersreuther
Managing Director Phosphorus Extraction Schkopau
GELSENWASSER AG
Dr. Markus Hiebel
Head of Sustainability and Participation Department
Fraunhofer UMSICHT
Dr. Carl van Heijst
Co-founder
It Goes Forward
Jan Jäck
Laboratory manager
Interstuhl Büromöbel GmbH & Co.KG
Bernd Meyer
Member of Management Board, Innovation and Sustainability Consultant
ZENIT GmbH
Herwig Kirchberger
Managing Director
DELSCI GmbH
Jürgen Jordan
Key Account Management
WINI Büromöbel
Alexander Walter
Property management consultant
Deutsche Bahn AG
Elke Sondermann
Editor-in-Chief
Verlag Chmielorz, WLLnews, C.ebra
Roxana Grömmer
Fraunhofer Institut für Chemische Technologie
Helen Haug
Fraunhofer IVV / Fraunhofer CCPE
Felicitas Erfurt-Gordon
CEO
Erfurt & Sohn KG
Marcus Sagitz
Managing Director Marketing & Corporate Affairs PreZero International
PreZero Stiftung & Co. KG
Lecture info to follow
Nils Müller
CEO and Founder
TRENDONE
Marcus Thiemann
Business Unit Director – Packaging Technology
inno-projekt GmbH
Dr. Benedikt Brenken
Director R-Cycle
R-Cycle / ProData GmbH
Dr. Burkhard Ohs
Chief Development Office
ContainerGrid GmbH
Dozie Igweilo
Founder
QUADLOOP TECHNOLOGIES
Tayyar Bayrakci
CEO
CyFract
Tim Paulke
CEO
NUNOS
Marvin Hodde
CBO
Hydrogenea
Peter Muth
Founder
Green Ocean – Water Circularity
Sascha Kilian
Research assistant
Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE
Vivian Loftin
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Recyda
Dr. Michel Siemon
CEO
Primobius
Tom Schoffelen
General Manager
ChemSmog
Markus Lehrmann
CEO
Architektenkammer Nordrhein-Westfalen
Thomas Krämer
Global Account Manager Productmarking | Lasersystems
Wipotec GmbH
Paul Bäcker
Research assistant
Fraunhofer IOSB
Tim Bichlmeier
Green Economy Network.NRW
Marieke Eckhardt
Innovation Support
Green Economy Network.NRW
Matthias Hausmann
CEO
ESK-SIC GmbH
Dr. James Bourely
Co-founder and CEO
Circelec
Oriol Sánchez García
CEO and Founder
Folgrid Technologies SL
Sunil Munusamy
Director
Midwest Composites
Fernando André Holguín Ochoa
CTO
Namalab
Ayush Khandelwal
CEO
Paper Earth
Hüseyin Çiloğlu
CEO
PiKare SkySource Water & Energy Innovation Solutions Ltd.
Max Krause
Founder
Simplyfined
Bart Brosius
General Representative of Flanders in Germany
Embassy of Belgium
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Lichtenthaler
Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship
ISM – International School of Management
Jochen Mösslein
CEO
Polysecure GmbH
Dr. Senol Öz
CEO
Solaveni GmbH
Nikhita Bhagwat
Founder
Trashify Tech
Laura Willems
Co-Founder
Vlastic
Jan-Eric Wörheide
Managing Director
Volterica GmbH
Brigitte Mouligneau
Transition Manager
Circular Flanders, OVAM
Dr. Hendrik Wehr
CEO Vorwerk Engineering
Vorwerk Elektrowerke GmbH & Co. KG
Dr. Montgomery Jaritz
Co-Founder & Managing Director
IonKraft GmbH
Koki Nishioka
Vice President, Business Development
Mechanocross Co.,Ltd.
Dr. Mohamad ElKafafy
Founder & CEO
Agrona
Jon Goriup
Co-founder & CEO
VCG.AI
Axel Möhring
CEO
energenta ersatzbrennstoffe gmbh
Lecture info to follow
Christoph Mundri
Director
Röber Institut GmbH
Lecture info to follow
Tim Stäbisch
Plant Manager
APTIV SERVICES DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
Lecture info to follow
Susanne Hagenkort-Rieger
Director General of Economic Policy
Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Dr. Christian Schütz
Business Development
Fraunhofer-Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF / Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE
Susanne Szech-Koundouros
Head of the sub-department: Raw Materials Policy, Circular Economy, Resource Protection and Environmental Law
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection
Dr. Daniel Stewart
Founder & CEO
ViridiCO2 Ltd.
Andreas Ribul-Olzer
Co-Founder & COO
PALPRINT
Dr. Christian Schwotzer
CFO
SA-Dynamics (RWTH Aachen Startup)
Silke Achenbach
Head of Marketing and Sales
AEROLIGHT GmbH
Sarah Neumann
Co-Founder
OCTO
Dr. Tilman Sauter
Co-Founder
fior Familie GmbH
Orlando Kleineberg
CTO
Co-reactive GmbH
Eckhard Kukatsch
Owner
Smart Castle / Tischlerei Kukatsch Systeme
Dr. Prateek Mahalwar
CEO
BIOWEG
Michael Praeger
Chief ESG and Corporate Communications Officer
Bystronic Laser AG
Lecture info to follow
Jeffrey Lu
Programme Manager
PragmaCharge
Anna De Matos
CEO
Circular Library Network
Prof. Peter Palmer
Co Founder
Circular Flow
Karsten Hirsch
CEO & Co Founder
Plastic Fischer GmbH
Daniela Muendler
CEO
samplistick GmbH
Sylwia Marroquin
Co-Owner
Triangular-PST GmbH & Co. KG
Dr. Lennart Osthoff
CEO
Repartly GmbH
Malte Fislake
Operations Manager
Reiling PV-Recycling GmbH & Co. KG
Ann-Christin Kortenbrede
Managing Director
Gründerfonds Ruhr
Mohnish Pujari
Business Development Managerinstr
Action GmbH
Dr. Jamal Sonko
Founder and CEO
Kyuka ventures innovation hub
Dana Aleff
Managing Director
Circonomit GmbH
Prof. Dr. Florian Turk
Co-founder and CEO
Microwave Solutions GmbH
Sebastian Daus
Co-Founder & CEO
FixFirst
Hartmut Schug
Director
Green Economy Network.NRW
Silke Achenbach
Head of Marketing and Sales
Aerolight GmbH
Jan-Philip Kopka
Researcher
Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML
Lecture info to follow
Dr. Heinrich Ostendarp
Geschäftsführer / CTIO
HEGLA GmbH & Co. KG
Henning Löbbert
Co-Founder
1to3 energy
Christian Mertens
CFO
BHFM Technologies GmbH
Paolo Coda Rivera
Founder
Sacred Valley Fibers PCR
Dr. Hartmut Schaefer
Co-creator ECOnGOOD Business Canvas and Certified ECOnGOOD Consultant, LC Basel/Lörrach
ECOnGOOD | Economy for the Common Good
Beate Petersen
ECOnGOOD consultant and co-founder ECOnGOOD LC Ennepe, Ruhr & Wupper
ECOnGOOD | Economy for the Common Good
Tayla Sheldrake
Managing Director MotionLab.Ventures
Servet Karadeniz
CEO
CIYANO
Rafael Gramm
Group Manager Transformation Building Economy
Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP
Thomas Kirmayr Managing Director Fraunhofer Building Innovation Alliance
To the lecture info 
Dr. Volker Thome
Head of Department Inorganic Materials and Recycling Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP
Dr. Josephine Schöffel
Researcher Transformation Building Economy Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP
Lars Böttcher
Productmanager EU- and foreign trade promotion
NRW.BANK
