Born in the UK, educated in Rhodesia and South Africa, Stephen Harrod spent eleven years building a market research company in South Africa, focussed on the paper and packaging industry in that country, following which he spent six years in the paper industry with Mondi and JAC Labels before relocating to England. He has been consulting on ad-hoc projects and authoring reports for Smithers since 2006, with a focus on global paper and packaging markets. Stephen is responsible for a range of Smithers market reports including the Global Corrugated Market, the Global Folding Carton Market, Retail Ready Packaging, Liquid Packaging Board, Sustainable E-Commerce Packaging and many others.
Michelle co-founded Lorax Compliance in 2014 in order to help companies that are obligated under Extended Producer Responsibility and Product Stewardship legislation around the world. With 15 years of experience working in this sector, her focus is to ensure clients find the process of EPR and Stewardship reporting as simple as possible, despite the complexities placed on businesses by legislation. As COO, her role covers the management and delivery of several teams, including Accounts, Compliance, Sales, Marketing and Human Resources.
Bio to follow
Joachim Quoden studied law at the “Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität” in Bonn between 1987 and 1992 and served his legal internship in Bonn and Cologne from 1993 until 1995.
In between these placements, he spent 4 months within the German Federal Ministry of Environment where he was working on packaging issues including the German Packaging Ordinance.
From February 1993 until June 2006 Mr Quoden worked for Der Grüne Punkt - Duales System Deutschland GmbH (DSD) in various capacities. From January 2001, he served as Head of International Affairs of DSD and was vested with general commercial power of representation in 2003.
Since April 2013 he is appointed as managing director of EXPRA – Extended Producer Responsibility Alliance – Inspiring Packaging Recycling, an alliance of currently 26 non-profit packaging recovery organisations owned by obliged industry from 24 countries from Europe, Canada and Israel.
I have more than 18 years’ experience in procurement and project management working across Russia, Germany and the UAE with Bosch, Nestle and the last 11 years with Mars. Prior to the current role in Sustainability I have served as External Manufacturing Director for Emerging Markets and Packaging Sr. Strategic Sourcing Manager for MEA. I hold an MBA from Steinbeis University Berlin, Germany.
Bio to follow
Justin Wood is Vice President and Head of Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) at the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. He joined the Alliance in April 2020 and is responsible in the EMEA region for developing the strategy, building a portfolio of high-impact projects that address plastic pollution and support a circular economy, as well as raising funds and developing partnerships.
Before joining the Alliance, Justin was Head of Asia Pacific and Member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum from 2015 to 2020. In this role, he managed the Forum’s portfolio of activities and relationships in Asia, working on trade and economic integration, human capital development, technology policy, environmental sustainability and infrastructure financing.
Before 2015, he worked for The Economist Group for 18 years, the last 14 of them in South-east Asia. For eight of those years Justin ran an economic advisory and research service covering the Asia region, and before that he worked as a journalist, covering economics and business.
Justin is a graduate of the London School of Economics (1992) and has completed post-graduate studies in corporate finance at London Business School (2001) and in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School (2019). Justin is the author of several books and is a frequent commentator on TV and in the press. He is married with three children.
Bio to follow
Monir Bou Ghanem is a Policy Advisor at the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi providing a leadership role in government wide environment policy development. Monir has lead a number of flagship initiatives in Abu Dhabi including the establishment of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group and the development of the Abu Dhabi Environment Policy Agenda. Monir lead very specific flagship initiatives like the development of the Abu Dhabi Single Use Plastic Policy and the Abu Dhabi Climate Change Strategy. During his work in the agency, Monir served as the Director for Environment Policy and Planning where he lead the development of government strategies like waste management and air quality.
Before joining the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, Monir was a Director General of a leading conservation NGO in Lebanon. He also served as a sustainability policy advisor to the Lebanese Government and Parliament. He worked with the United Nations Development Program as well as a consultant with international organizations on issues related to collaborative planning, conflict management, waste, water and conservation strategies. In that context, he was a member of the World Bank Forest Policy Advisory Group. He participated in negotiation and adoption of several Euro Mediterranean Environment declarations and agreements representing Government or NGOs depending on his respective assignments.
Monir has a Masters Degree in Environmental Policy Planning from the American University of Beirut.
Marika Knorr is the Head of Sustainability and Communication at CCL Label since April 2020 and is dedicated to grow the “Sustainable Product Family” while driving CCL’s Sustainability roadmap. Marika holds a Master‘s Degree in Art from Cologne University and Arizona State University and started her career as a newspaper and magazine writer before moving into Corporate Communications at international companies including TÜV Rheinland, LANXESS AG and Constantia Flexibles. She has held varied and senior positions in marketing and communications and has extensive experience in our industry focusing on sustainability and communication. Marika is based in Cologne, Germany.
Bio to come
Previously based in Asia, i moved to Dubai from Singapore 17 years ago (2007)
While i was International Managing Director for Dragon Rouge (a leading international French Branding Agency), she was given the role of the Director General of the French Chamber of Commerce for Dubai and The Northern Emirates.
She has extensive management and international marketing experience spanning 25 years and 5 continents.
- General Manager for an International Marketing Group (OMG Holding) across 8 different Asian countries,
- Client Director for international advertising agencies such as Ad Store New York and TBWA Paris while dealing with many major international accounts in music and cinema industry such as Sony Music, Universal, BBC, Alitalia, Swatch International, Unilever, P&G, Nestle and L’Oreal.
Christel has founded LAMARQ International, a Branding and Packaging Agency in 2010. LAMARQ has presence across all GCC and MENA countries and has been awarded multiple times as Best Branding and Packaging in the Middle East Region.
Having spent a majority of her career in the Middle East, Maria Monique is responsible for the marketing and communications activities of Taghleef Industries within the Asia Pacific and Middle East region. Along with her regional role, she is also the communications lead for Ti’s Flexible Packaging Business Unit. With more than (7) years of experience within the packaging industry and a pure marketing management background, her focus has been on helping to build a stronger brand positioning for Taghleef within the innovations and sustainability space. Currently based in Ti’s Italian Headquaters, she continues to hone her marketing expertise by pursuing her Executive Masters in Marketing and Sales in SDA Bocconi and ESADE University.
A representative voice in paper-based solutions with 20+ years’ experience in Paper & Packaging Industry, serving major Industrial, CPG Brands, Retailers and Private Labels, and E-Commerce provider. First point of contact in Mondi for Retailers and Brands on achieving Sustainability goals in packaging with flexible solutions (paper, plastic, hybrid) and circular business model. Holding a Civil Engineering Degree, MBA & Executive programs in Sales & Marketing Excellence from US Business Schools, and specialized in Business Sustainability, Net Zero, Circular Economy from the University of Cambridge. Grown in Venice (Italy), international market experience, living a multicultural family, passionate Sailor, Architect & Engineer of Sustainability in Business.
Graduating from Leeds University in 1986, Dr Mike embarked on several very different careers including Medicine, Police and Global Electronics Distribution before moving to UAE in 2006. Dual qualified as aircraft and boat captains, his interests include advanced driving & IT. Joining Hotpack in 2016, Mike now heads both Global Business Development & Sustainability.
As the largest food packaging manufacturer in the Middle East, with over 4000+ team members and 4,000+ products, Hotpack occupies a significant presence in both airline and airport supply chains.
Sustainability remains a paramount priority at Hotpack where they have been widely recognised as one of the global market leaders in addressing the many challenges faced by the packaging sector.
Dr Marinella Vitulli is a Chemist and a Food Contact Expert. She is the owner and director of Food Contact Center and Food Contact Services; her companies cooperates with FCM producers, Universities, Technical Groups and Associations at a global level.
She often participates as speaker in food and packaging events.
Jerome Viricel is a highly accomplished entrepreneur with a rich background in diverse industries. Over the past 18 years, he has successfully managed multiple companies in France, North Africa, and the Middle East, demonstrating his exceptional entrepreneurial cleverness.
Jerome holds an MSc. in Management, specializing in European Entrepreneurial Learning, from EMLyon Business School (2002). His passion for business strategy, management, and entrepreneurship led him to establish his first company while still pursuing his education.
With a focus on event and communication services, he delivered impressive results,
organizing major corporate events for prominent French groups for over a decade.
In 2012, Jerome expanded his horizons and ventured into the Middle East. As the Director Middle East & Asia for a reputable French textile company, he played a pivotal role in driving commercial development across more than 20 countries. With a keen eye for emerging markets and a talent for strategic decision-making, Jerome effectively managed the subsidiary based in Dubai.
Currently serving as the General Manager of RECAPP for Veolia Middle East, Jerome brings his extensive expertise in project management, marketing, commercial strategies, and business development to the forefront.
Tim is the sole director and founder of Lifecycles, a premium supplier of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and sustainability services, and owner of LCA software packaging tool, PIQET.
With over 25 years of experience in LCA, Tim is a pillar of the international Life Cycle community through his involvement with the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, ISO standards development committee for ISO14048 and the Forum for Sustainability through Life Cycle Innovation.
Tim has been instrumental in the development of data and leading-edge scientific support for supply chain sustainability tools. He has contributed to several books, being co-author of Assessment: Principles, Practice and Prospects (CSIRO Publishing) and Design + Environment: A Global Guide to Designing Greener Goods (Greenleaf Publishing Limited). He strives to make a more rational science-based approach to environmental decision-making through his consultancy work, training and tool development.
