2021 Speaker Line-Up
More Speakers To Be Announced Soon
Bret Morrison
Sr. Manager, Product Marketing, ITAD | Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services
Bret Morrison
Sr. Manager, Product Marketing, ITAD | Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services
Sam Haig
Battery Recycling Business Manager | R S Bruce Metals Recovery
Sam Haig
Battery Recycling Business Manager | R S Bruce Metals Recovery
Francois Gaudet
Head of Thematic Impact Finance Operations | European Investment Bank (EIB)
Francois Gaudet
Head of Thematic Impact Finance Operations | European Investment Bank (EIB)
Efrat Friedland
Founder/Materials Strategist | materialscout
Efrat Friedland
Founder/Materials Strategist | materialscout
Athan Fox
Chief Technology & Innovation Officer | Ever Resource Ltd
Athan Fox
Chief Technology & Innovation Officer | Ever Resource Ltd
Brendan Edgerton
Director, Circular Economy | World Bussiness Council for Sustianable Development (WBCSD) / Circular Electronics Partnership (CEP)
Brendan Edgerton
Director, Circular Economy | World Bussiness Council for Sustianable Development (WBCSD) / Circular Electronics Partnership (CEP)
Robert Colbourn
Manager - Benchmark Membership | Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Robert Colbourn
Manager - Benchmark Membership | Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Jan Clyncke
Managing Director | PV Cycle
Jan Clyncke
Managing Director | PV Cycle
Wolfgang Bernhart
Senior Partner | Roland Berger
Wolfgang Bernhart
Senior Partner | Roland Berger
Mark Bedford
Business Development Director | Johnson Matthey Plc
Mark Bedford
Business Development Director | Johnson Matthey Plc
Will Barker
Co-founder & CEO | Mint Innovation
Will Barker
Co-founder & CEO | Mint Innovation
Steven Art
Project & Supply Manager | Umicore Precious Metals Refining
Steven Art
Project & Supply Manager | Umicore Precious Metals Refining
Dr Ruediger Kuehr
Director/Head | UNU-SCYCLE/UNITAR Bonn
Dr Ruediger Kuehr
Director/Head | UNU-SCYCLE/UNITAR Bonn
Joost de Kluijver
Founder | Closing the Loop
Joost de Kluijver
Founder | Closing the Loop
Jim Puckett
Executive Director & Founder | Basel Action Network (BAN)
Jim Puckett
Executive Director & Founder | Basel Action Network (BAN)
- Jim is the co-founder and executive director of Basel Action Network, at which he provides strategic oversight and implements and expands BAN’s programs
- As an activist for more than 25 years, his work on toxic waste and toxic waste trade has helped control pollution, safeguard fragile ecosystems from bio-accumulating toxins, protect the world’s poor from health hazards, and re-use the Earth’s limited resources
- He has been a chief proponent of just international policies within the United Nations Basel Convention since its inception in 1989. As the only person to have attended every Conference of the Parties meeting, he supports delegates in drafting, approving, and implementing policies that protect people from the global trade of toxic waste
- His assistance was crucial for creating regional waste trade agreements, such as the Bamako Convention, Central American Agreement, Waigani Treaty, and the Cartagena Convention Waste Trade Protocol
- He has traveled the world researching, speaking, writing, and producing films. He was the first to investigate and expose the export of electronic waste (e-waste). BAN’s 2002 film, Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia, was the first to shine a spotlight on e-waste trade and transformed an unknown dumping practice into a well-recognized, global issue
- He has since overseen creation of the e-Stewards Certification Program, which certifies electronics recyclers to the industry’s gold standard for environmental and occupational health and safety protection
- Prior to establishing BAN, as Toxics Director for Greenpeace International, his regional campaigns were instrumental in generating public and government support for equitable trade policies throughout Europe
- He holds a Bachelor of Science in Speech and Filmmaking from the University of Oregon
Tilmann Vahle
Associate/Lead | SYSTEMIQ/Circular Economy Initiative Deutschland
Tilmann Vahle
Associate/Lead | SYSTEMIQ/Circular Economy Initiative Deutschland
Anthony Levy
CEO | Cistor
Anthony Levy
CEO | Cistor
Zarko Meseldzija
Director & CTO | American Manganese Inc
Zarko Meseldzija
Director & CTO | American Manganese Inc
Emma Nehrenheim
Chief Environmental Officer | Northvolt
Emma Nehrenheim
Chief Environmental Officer | Northvolt
Chloé Mikolajczack
Sustainability Consultant | Restart
Chloé Mikolajczack
Sustainability Consultant | Restart
Jan Hoogstrate
Executive Director | Free ICT Europe Foundation
Jan Hoogstrate
Executive Director | Free ICT Europe Foundation
Dr Mathias Schluep
Program Director | World Resources Forum
Dr Mathias Schluep
Program Director | World Resources Forum
Jean-Christophe Lambert
Business Development Manager | Lithion Recycling
Jean-Christophe Lambert
Business Development Manager | Lithion Recycling
Andreas Wade
Global Sustainability Director | First Solar
Andreas Wade
Global Sustainability Director | First Solar
Claire Agraffeil
Project Manager | CEA/INES (Institut National de l'Energie Solaire)
Claire Agraffeil
Project Manager | CEA/INES (Institut National de l'Energie Solaire)
Dr Rolph Payet
Executive Secretary | Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions
Dr Rolph Payet
Executive Secretary | Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions
- Dr Rolph Payet is the United Nations Executive Secretary for the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions
- He is an international policy expert, researcher and speaker on environment, climate and island issues
- He was the first president and vice-chancellor of the University of Seychelles
- He was Minister of Environment and Energy in the Cabinet of Seychelles from 2012 to 2014.
- Dr Payet has received numerous international awards and recognition for his work on islands, climate change, tertiary education and biodiversity
- He is known for his ability to bring together the various disciplines – natural science, economics and business – to innovate solutions for environmental issues
- His research in sustainable tourism and climate change continue to benefit numerous tourism developments in Seychelles and elsewhere
Manfred Fahrner
Senior Adviser | European Electronics Recycling Association (EERA)
Manfred Fahrner
Senior Adviser | European Electronics Recycling Association (EERA)
- Manfred is a senior adviser with the European Electronics Recyclers Association (EERA) and one of the most knowledgeable and influential figures in the WEEE sector
- He was the first president of EERA. Holding the position for 10 years, he was the driver behind the success of the organization
- Due to his efforts in discussions with European Parliament members and the European Commission, the WEEE II Directive now includes realistic and measurable targets. For instance, a realistic definition of materials that need to be removed because they are hazardous, and a collection target for WEEE of 65% of what has been put on the market
- He has also been bestowed with the ‘IERC Honorary Award’ in 2018 for all his achievements for the WEEE industry
- In 2020, he became the ninth member of the E-Waste World Conference & Expo Advisory Board
Kyle Wiens
CEO & Co-founder | iFixit
Kyle Wiens
CEO & Co-founder | iFixit
Elisabeth Smith
Executive Director | StEP Initiative - Solving The E-Waste Problem
Elisabeth Smith
Executive Director | StEP Initiative - Solving The E-Waste Problem
Martin Series
Director Sourcing | Global Resale
Martin Series
Director Sourcing | Global Resale
Marcel Weil
Head of Research for Sustainable Energy Technologies | Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Marcel Weil
Head of Research for Sustainable Energy Technologies | Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Hans Eric Melin
Managing Director | Circular Energy Storage
Hans Eric Melin
Managing Director | Circular Energy Storage
- Hans Eric is the founder of London-based Circular Energy Storage, which is a consultancy focused on life-cycle management of lithium-ion batteries
- He is also the author of The lithium-ion battery end-of-life market, which is an annual report covering recycling and reuse of lithium-ion batteries and its impact on the raw material market
- Prior to starting Circular Energy Storage, Hans Eric served as vice president New Markets at Battery Solutions in Michigan, USA, at which he was primarily working with reuse of lithium-ion batteries
- Before that, he was the CEO of Refind Technologies in Gothenburg, which is a leading company in intelligent sorting of batteries and electronics
- Hans Eric has a long experience in the collection of waste but also in eco-design and renewable energy
- He holds a BSc in Communication Studies and Business administration from Gothenburg University
Mathieu Rama
Senior Policy Officer - Environment | RREUSE
Mathieu Rama
Senior Policy Officer - Environment | RREUSE
Pascal Leroy
Director General | WEEE Forum
Pascal Leroy
Director General | WEEE Forum
- Pascal became director general of the WEEE Forum in 2007
- The WEEE Forum is a European association of 40 electrical and electronic waste collection and recovery systems. Its mission is to provide for a platform for co-operation and exchange of best practices and, in so doing, optimize the effectiveness of the operations of the member organizations, while striving for excellence and continuous improvement in environmental performance
- He has also been the project manager of ‘WEEELABEX’, the four-year project co-financed by the European Community that has laid down a harmonized set of standards on collection, logistics and treatment of WEEE, and a set of conformity verification rules. The project came to an end on 31 December 2012
- He previously worked at CECED, the association of household appliance manufacturers in Europe. He joined CECED in 2000 and was in charge of an advocacy program on WEEE. He prepared the ground for the set-up of WEEE producer responsibility organizations in a number of new member states
- Before CECED, Pascal worked for Hill and Knowlton, the world’s second-largest public relations and public affairs consultancy
- In the second half of the 1990s, he worked in the European Parliament. He studied economics at the University of Antwerpen (Belgium) and obtained a Masters in advanced European economic studies at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium)
Cris Stephenson
CEO | Environcom
Cris Stephenson
CEO | Environcom
- Cris joined Environcom in September 2014 and his background is logistics
- After attending Durham University studying philosophy he started work as a HGV 1 driver and after joining TNT worked his way up to divisional managing director
- Having now worked across all aspects of the supply chain with multi-national companies such as the TNT Group, HDNL and Pall-Ex, he also worked within the manufacturing sector with SMEs such as CPL and Autosparks
Dr Lisa Maria T. O'Donoghue
Founder & CEO | Votechnik
Dr Lisa Maria T. O'Donoghue
Founder & CEO | Votechnik
Reinhardt Smit
Director - Supply Chains | Closing The Loop
Reinhardt Smit
Director - Supply Chains | Closing The Loop
- Reinhardt Smit is director of supply chains at Closing the Loop. Closing the Loop is a Netherlands-based organization that creates a circular economy for mobile phones. In practice, they give good-quality second-hand mobile telephones a second life in Africa, but more importantly, they create a reverse-distribution system in less developed nations to collect mobile phones for recycling
- He grew up in South Africa and Ghana. After finishing his IT studies and Hotelschool in the Netherlands, he started his own company to improve communication and workflows of organizations and projects. During this work, he came across the world of electronic waste and recycling
- At Closing the Loop, his focus is on strengthening the existing networks and helping the organization grow through his experience and knowledge from Africa
Luca Campadello
Project & Research Manager | ERION
Luca Campadello
Project & Research Manager | ERION
- Luca is project and research manager for ECODOM
- He earned his MSc in mechanics from Politecnico di Milano University
- His specialist topics vary from technical innovative researches on plastics and critical raw materials to initiatives for improving the WEEE value chain through education and digitalization solutions
- Since 2008, he has worked for ECODOM, managing suppliers, performing WEEELABEX audits and participating in European technical tables for the development of standards focused on the recycling of WEEE
Richard McKinlay
Head of Consulting | Axion
Richard McKinlay
Head of Consulting | Axion
- Richard graduated from The University of Manchester with a master’s degree in chemical engineering
- He is is currently head of consulting at Axion
- Richard has worked on a range of research, development and demonstration projects in the waste and resource sector and works closely with Axions Polymers division
- Axion Polymers is one of the largest UK recyclers of plastics from end-of-life vehicles and WEEE
Douglas Johnson-Poensgen
Founder & CEO | Circulor
Douglas Johnson-Poensgen
Founder & CEO | Circulor
- Doug has 25 years’ international experience, operating in TMT, financial services, IT and management consultancy sectors
- His experience spans large corporates (Barclays, BT, Serco, AIMIA), scale-ups (Cadence, ISD) and start-ups (Circulor, Snapdragon)
- He has broad functional experience with consistent themes being innovation, delivering growth and regulation
Heinz Böni
Head of Research Group CARE (Critical Materials and Resource Efficiency) | Empa - The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
Heinz Böni
Head of Research Group CARE (Critical Materials and Resource Efficiency) | Empa - The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
- Heinz has a degree in rural and environmental engineering from ETH Zürich with postgraduate studies in water supply and wastewater management
- He worked as a scientist, in development cooperation and for more than 10 years as an engineer and consultant in Waste and Resources Management in Switzerland
- At Empa, he is head of the research group CARE (Critical Materials and Resource Efficiency)
- His scope of work covers research in WEEE recycling, auditing WEEE recycling companies and capacity building in WEEE management in developing countries
John Shegerian
Co-founder & Executive Chairman | ERI
John Shegerian
Co-founder & Executive Chairman | ERI
- John is a serial social entrepreneur who focuses on solving global problems through game-changing innovations to build successful, socially responsible impact companies
- As co-founder and executive chairman of ERI, he has played a significant role in paving the way for the electronics recycling, data protection and ITAD industries as a whole. Building ERI from the ground up, he has helped lead the company to its current standing as the largest fully integrated IT and electronics asset disposition provider and cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction company in the USA
- Under his stewardship, the company now has the capacity to process more than a billion pounds (lbs) of electronic waste annually at its eight certified locations, serving every zip code in the country
- Shegerian is also a sought-after speaker, panelist and electronics recycling and ITAD industry authority, presenting ‘state of the industry’ analyses at events all around the world, including Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas
- He has also authored articles on the industry for Recycling Today, E-Scrap News and various business journals and regularly provides his expert knowledge to news media, including The Wall Street Journal, TIME, Newsweek, Forbes, Gizmodo and Wired, among others
- He is currently a member of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business’ Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL) Advisory Board and was named the Clean Tech Entrepreneur of the Year for Northern California by Ernst & Young
- He is the seventh member of the E-Waste World Conference & Expo 2020 Advisory Board
Chris Slijkhuis
Board Member | European Electronics Recyclers Association (EERA)
Chris Slijkhuis
Board Member | European Electronics Recyclers Association (EERA)
- After completing a Master of Business Administration program in the 1980s, Chris worked on a number of start-ups for Chep Europe in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s (Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Hungary) and served as Chep’s regional general manager
- He joined the fast-growing electronics manufacturing services company Flextronics in 2000, as director of Supply Chain Management in its European HQ in Vienna and developed and implemented new supply chain concepts. In this role he also worked on the development of new reverse logistics concepts for WEEE when the WEEE Directive was introduced in 2004
- He joined MBA Polymers (in which Flextronics was one of the shareholders at the time) in 2005 to develop the global sourcing and supply chain function for this e-waste plastics recycling company
- In 2012, Chris joined the Müller-Guttenbrunn Group, the JV partner of MBA Polymers in Austria, where his activities were related to public affairs and e-waste. MBA Polymers Austria became a fully owned subsidiary of the Müller-Guttenbrunn Group in 2017 and MBA Polymers Austria was rebranded into MGG Polymers at the beginning of 2018
- At the start of October, Chris was named general manager of MGG Polymers. He is also a board member of the European Electronics Recyclers Association EERA for which he is the spokesperson for e-waste plastics recycling
Corey Dehmey
Executive Director | SERI - Sustainable Electronics Recycling International
Corey Dehmey
Executive Director | SERI - Sustainable Electronics Recycling International
- Corey is the executive director of Sustainable Electronics Recovery International (SERI). He also serves on the organization’s board of directors and since 2008 has worked in various roles in the electronics recovery industry
- Corey holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in computer and information systems and spent 12 years in the IT industry before transitioning to electronics recovery
- SERI’s core focus is administering and continually improving the R2 Standard, the premier global environmental, worker health and safety standard for the electronics refurbishing and recycling industry
- A core component of SERI’s mission is education and outreach on the importance of electronics reuse and recycling. The organization continuously works to inform consumers, businesses and other stakeholder groups about the rapid rise of electronic waste, the potential environmental and human health impacts associated with irresponsible e-waste disposal, and the importance of reuse and recycling. It also engages in projects to promote safe and sustainable electronics recycling throughout the world. SERI partners with corporations, other non-profits, or government agencies on these projects
- Corey previously served as SERI’s RD director for four years and following his appointment in 2018 to executive director brought to position the greatest available technical knowledge of the industry, the R2 standard and the standard certification process
- Corey’s experience working in virtually all sectors of the electronics reuse and recycling industry affords him a broad perspective of what is needed and what is possible in continuing to improve the sustainability of electronics recycling
Nancy Gillis
CEO | Green Electronics Council (GEC)
Nancy Gillis
CEO | Green Electronics Council (GEC)
- Nancy Gillis is the chief executive officer of the Green Electronics Council (GEC)
- She has more than 20 years’ experience leveraging sustainability to increase competitiveness, reduce risk and foster innovation in both public and private sector organizations
- Prior to joining the GEC, she was the global lead for Resilient and Responsible Supply Chains with Ernst & Young (EY) and managed sustainable procurement engagements for Fortune 100 companies
- She joined EY from the US General Services Administration (GSA), the US Federal Government’s procurement agency that oversees approximately US$45 billion of annual spend. At GSA, she served as the director of the Federal Supply Chain office, responsible for expanding the use of sustainability criteria and ecolabels in federal procurements
- GEC is a mission-driven 501c(4) non-profit that collaborates to achieve a world in which only sustainable IT products are designed, manufactured and purchased, hence she will provide invaluable insight and expertise for our Green & Sustainable Electronics stream
- Founded initially to manage EPEAT, the leading global ecolabel for IT products, GEC advocates for sustainable IT by helping both manufacturers and large-scale purchasers to understand the challenges facing sustainable IT, commit to address those challenges and finally act to change internal, operational, manufacturing and procurement behaviors
- Nancy has a graduate degree in communications technology from Georgetown University
Professor Sebastien Farnaud
Professor, Faculty Research Centre for Sport, Exercise & Life Sciences | Coventry University
Professor Sebastien Farnaud
Professor, Faculty Research Centre for Sport, Exercise & Life Sciences | Coventry University
- Professor Farnaud is associate professor in the Center for Sport and Exercise & Life Sciences (CSELS) at Coventry University, where he created the ‘Bioleaching’ group. This is part of a focus on bioremediation, the process that uses mainly microorganisms to detoxify the environments. He is leading the innovate-funded KTP Bioleaching project, in collaboration with N2S for the recycling of precious metal from electronic waste
- He arrived in the UK after graduating in France, as an Erasmus student in 1990, to pursue a PhD in molecular biology at King’s College London, at the Randall Centre for cell and molecular biophysics
- Over the past 20 years, he has developed his academic and research experience in several academic institutions, including Imperial College, University of Westminster and the University of Bedfordshire, but also in the third sector as science director in a medical research charity
- In addition to his interest in microbiological and biotech applications, his research expertise also includes the biomedical aspects of iron metabolism, particularly in Parkinson’s Disease, and also the development of antimicrobial peptides
- His strong interest in Enterprise & Innovation, which includes the directorship and creation of several companies, has led him to the position of enterprise and innovation lead in CSELS at Coventry University
Malcolm Whitehouse
General Manager | AST Recycling
Malcolm Whitehouse
General Manager | AST Recycling
Gavin Harper
Faraday Institution Research Fellow | University of Birmingham
Gavin Harper
Faraday Institution Research Fellow | University of Birmingham
- Gavin is a Faraday Institution Research Fellow on the ReLiB (Recycling & Reuse of Lithium-Ion Batteries) Project at the University of Birmingham, investigating advanced technologies for the recycling of automotive Lithium-Ion Batteries
- He is a founding member of Birmingham Energy Institute’s, Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements & Critical Materials