PlasticsEurope, the pan-European trade association representing European plastics manufacturers, has announced the appointment of Karl Foerster as Executive Director. Mr Foerster has been the Chief Executive Officer of Neochimiki Group, Athens. He will take up his new position at PlasticsEurope as of 1 October 2013.
“We are delighted to be able to appoint someone of Karl’s ability and expertise to this important role” - said Patrick Thomas, CEO Bayer MaterialScience and President of PlasticsEurope. “His experience in working in senior positions across different markets of the industry will be an invaluable asset to PlasticsEurope members and our external partners.” Karl Foerster added: “I am very honoured to take on the position of Executive Director, and to have the opportunity to work with such a talented and experienced team. PlasticsEurope has a crucial role to play in communicating the benefits of plastics to a wide range of stakeholder audiences, and at the same time helping drive sustainable industry responses to challenging societal issues. I look forward to providing my own contributions to this effort, while building on existing initiatives such as the Zero Plastics to Landfill by 2020 campaign. “
An economics graduate from the University of Wuerzburg, Germany, with an MBA from the University of Rhode Island, USA, Karl Foerster brings to his new role nearly 30 years of experience in the chemical and plastics industry. Before joining Neochimiki seven years ago, Foerster served as Vice President at
PolymerLatex and held various executive management positions during his 20 years at BASF. He has been working in 9 countries in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Foerster takes over from outgoing Executive Director Wilfried Haensel who has been in the position since 2007. Commenting on Haensel’s retirement on behalf of the membership of PlasticsEurope, Patrick Thomas remarked: “We are very grateful to Wilfried for the strategic vision he brought, for his commitment, dynamism and the bold and innovative path on which he set the association over the past 7 years, we wish him every success and happiness in his future endeavours.”