A holder of a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, Wayne joined Innovia Films (formerly UCB Films) in 1991 as an analytical chemist, before moving into a product management role in 1994 to develop the first portfolio of polypropylene films for pressure-sensitive label applications. This led to a variety of market development and label business management roles, before becoming managing director of the UK operations in 2017.

Following a move to join the development of the Catchpoint linerless label technology and the subsequent acquisition of the Catchpoint IP by Avery Dennison in 2022, Wayne is now helping to lead the commercialisation of linerless technology in Europe within the Avery Dennison organisation.

Tobias Bartel (D) is a trainer and consultant in innovation and technology management. Besides his daily work, he is frequently involved as motivator during industry meetings, memorising the key topics and translating these into value-adding impulses. Be prepared to be woken up and challenged about the topics and learnings of the previous and upcoming day and to be touched by a smile and some entertaining magic…

Thomas Reiner, CEO of the Berndt & Partner Group (D), is one of Europe’s most renowned packaging experts. He has a long track record of consulting the world’s foremost brand owners, retailers and packaging companies on their packaging innovation strategy. Recently he has been focusing on advocating the sustainable packaging mission. In his view, sustainability is much connected to several other topics like agility, supply chain management, digital transformation, etc. The label industry is known for its late-stage customization and agility, but is our supply chain ready for the faster speed to market? Advocating a holistic approach to sustainability, he emphasizes that through the consumers, the global players (brands, converters, key suppliers) are currently in the lead in terms of circularity and carbon footprint, but this is now trickling down to the medium and smaller players. Now is the playing ground that needs to be prepared.

Thomas Rau is entrepreneur, architect, innovator and visionary. He is ranked among the Top 5 Dutch key influencers in sustainability. His motto is ‘guided by the future’: his decisions and actions are not determined by what is deemed possible or culturally acceptable now, but by what is necessary for the future. Putting words into action, RAU Architects have been on the forefront of designing environmentally conscious buildings and healthy indoor climates since 1992. He is promoting the use of renewable energy in the built environment and seeks to address the increasing worldwide resource scarcity. Thomas’ new enterprise Turntoo focuses on closing material loops and developing business models to put the circular economy into practice.

Ron Keller is former Dutch Ambassador to Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and China. Previously, he was Director at the Eastern Europe Bank (EBRD) and top advisor to the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and to the Dutch Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs. At the European Union in Brussels he chaired the Committee that set-up the Euro currency system (1997-2000). He is a lecturer at universities and also a frequent commentator on Dutch TV and radio but also the BBC. From this variety of different backgrounds, Ron is perfectly positioned to connect the global economic, financial, and geopolitical perspective with the present business outlook.

Philippe Voet is the current FINAT President and is the General Manager of Etivoet in Belgium.

As Independent Consultant in the fields of labels, films and packaging at label . film . & pack solutions, Noel is based in Germany. As ELF programme leader he is mainly involved in circularity and recycling topics.

Nick has focused on the Packaging, Plastic & Paper related industries for twenty years and his experience includes disposals, acquisitions, and leveraged buyouts. He has advised on several billion dollars of transactions. Prior to Moorgate Capital he spent 4 years with Europa Partners and 8 years with PwC Corporate Finance where he was Sector Leader for the PPP industry. Nick is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Stationers & Newspaper Makers and a member of the Institute of Packaging. Nick is a member of the Editorial Board of Plastics in Packaging.

Miquel Prieto is Global Product Manager Films & DTL at Fedrigoni Self Adhesives.

Miquel  is an Executive from the industrial sector with 20 years’ experience at the New Business Implementation and its Development and at New Product Development in B2B businesses.

He is oriented in achieving goals through action plans and to manage projects with high level of uncertainty. He has experience in Negotiation and Managing Conflict as well as building and leading cross-functional teams. He likes to identify new opportunities and taking action to build strategic relationships between organizations to achieve business goals.

His professional career started at the technical sales field and turned into management responsibilities on Quality Assurance, New Product Development and, last 8 years at the Implementation and Development of new business lines at international level.

A holder of a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Maxime joined ETI in 2007 to work in a variety of engineering, manufacturing, product development and market development roles, before becoming company president in 2012. Now, Maxime pursues the ETI philosophy and is focused on equipping clients with an unparalleled level of technology, innovation and freedom in label creation.

Mark Caines is an operating partner of Iconex parent company Atlas Holdings LLC and the president of Iconex Europe. He leads all Iconex European manufacturing operations in France and the UK, including sales, marketing, and customer support, focusing on creating new career opportunities, driving organizational change, and increasing profitability and shareholder value. Since taking the role in 2017, he has defined and propelled Iconex Europe’s strategy through data-driven decision-making, perseverance, and a commitment to organizational values. His 30 years of distinguished leadership in the print and paper packaging industry, with more than 15 years of transforming businesses for Atlas portfolio companies, uniquely prepared him to discover opportunities for Iconex Europe through unforeseen challenges and change.

As former CEO of ASG Americas, a significant global custom packaging solutions provider, Caines oversaw the development of specialty packaging alternatives to enhance the brand identity and awareness of the world’s most notable home entertainment and consumer brands. He also served as president and COO of Boehmer Box, creator of innovative paperboard packaging solutions for many of North America’s most recognizable food, beverage, and consumer goods solutions. In addition, as a Senior VP for Quebecor World Printing in Canada, the world’s largest commercial printer at the time, Caines managed all forms of print production and sales, from phone books to magazines.

Caines’ detailed knowledge of every aspect of and role in the printing industry informs his strategic ability to identify opportunities and take calculated risks to improve operational and financial performance.

Caines’ measured and collaborative approach to solving business problems led to his election as president of several local printing associations in the cities where he worked. Most recently, Caines served on the board of directors for the US Paperboard Packaging Council.

With his affinity for coaching others and helping them develop skills to grow, Caines has enjoyed coaching youth sports teams for many years, including hockey and baseball.

Lindsay Herbert is the author of Digital Transformation, a Bloomsbury business book that has received international praise for its practical framework on how to drive major change through innovation at enterprise scale. Lindsay's core message is that real digital transformation is about learning to become more adaptive to change itself. Success comes from the ability to react to the small and early signs of change, leveraging data, technology and new ways of working along the way. Lindsay has advised the leaders of major companies on how to further their innovation agendas, as well as creating breakthrough technologies. The biggest revelation of all, Herbert argues, is that true digital transformation only needs to happen once because, at its core, it means becoming more adaptive to change itself.

Kris Renwick is Sustainability Packaging Strategy Manager at Reckitt, home to the world's most loved and trusted hygiene, health and nutrition brands. Working globally across the Reckitt portfolio of brands he is tasked with embedding sustainability within the business through capability development and processes, building and strengthening partnerships with key customers and organisations, and driving progress towards Reckitt’s publicly stated sustainability ambitions. Prior to joining the Sustainability team, Kris spent over ten years working across packaging development roles, within Reckitt and the food industry, making him very familiar with the challenges involved in labelling for FMCG products.

Katharina Stankiewicz works over 15 years as Senior Package Development Engineer in the Consumer Care / Cosmetics industry, 12 years at Kao, responsible for various Brands in the EMEA Region, currently focusing on sustainability questions and recyclability requirements for Hair / Skin Care products with the aim to Design4Recycling.

Jules Lejeune was appointed as FINAT's Managing Director in 1998. He was closely involved in the launch of the FINAT Radar in 2014. Each year he presents the annual review of trends and developments in the self-adhesive label materials demand in Europe.

Juan Luís is a leader focused on empowering high-performance teams to ensure sustained growth in the industrial sector. He combines his dedication as a team player with an open-minded approach in decision making. His ambition is to realise strategic projects and deliver strong results, while keeping or making processes lean and efficient.

As Chief Executive Officer of Schur Flexibles Group, Juan Luís encourages his team to live up to the group’s purpose of being a frontrunner in the industry by constantly expanding their technological competences and innovation capabilities to drive change towards sustainable protective packaging solutions. This organisational set-up provides the basis for both value creation and customer satisfaction.

From 2018 on, when Juan Luís was appointed as Chief Operations Officer at Schur Flexibles Group, the Group has excelled in the integration of several M&A targets. To this aim, he has further strengthened the efficiency of the group’s European footprint across the whole region: Under his leadership, the Centre of Excellence concept of all European production sites has been expanded in terms of innovation, technological competences and sustainability. Digitalisation, transparency and continuous improvement are the key strategic pillars of this success.

With decades of international management experience, Juan Luis demonstrates profound cultural knowledge, combining his listening abilities with decisive actions, guidance and accountability for stakeholders in Europe and beyond.

Before joining Schur Flexibles, Juan Luís was globally responsible for the operational strategy of Constantia Flexibles’ pharma division. In charge of a wide range of sites including Austria, Germany, UK, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Vietnam, he optimised industrial processes and capex, pushed post-merger integrations and challenged the current industrial footprint.

In his 11 years at Saint Gobain, global leader of habitat, Juan Luís held different management positions worldwide, ranging from Managing Director in Egypt to a global role as Director of Mineral Resources for the Construction Products Sector. During that period, Juan Luis was planning and driving greenfield projects, heavy industrialisation, organisational restructuring and change management.

Early on in his career, Juan Luis worked for the automotive industry, implementing several key projects at Renault, for instance.

Jens joined Flexoprint A/S as CFO in January 2020 and has been CFO for Optimum Group Nordic since Optimum Group acquired Flexoprint in July of 2020.

Jens in an expert in acquisitions and divestitures, management control systems, financial management and setting up new ventures. He has had more than 35 years of experience in the label industry in finance, logistics, quality, manufacturing and general management. He also has a broad international background having worked in most European countries and the US and lived in Denmark, the UK and the Netherlands. He is fluent in English, Dutch and Danish and with a good working knowledge of German.

Jakob joined Nilpeter in his role of Sales & Marketing Director in 1999, during which period the company has expended globally with HQ in Denmark; Manufacturing preses in HQ, Cincinnati/Ohio/USA and Chenai/India.
Jakob joined the FINAT congress first time in 2000, joined the Marketing committee in 2003 - and became Chairman in 2005 and has been on the Board of FINAT since 2005.

Gian is a technical director and packaging technologist at Procter & Gamble (P&G), one of the largest consumer packaged goods companies in the world.
In his 20+ year career at P&G, Gian has helped drive R&D into sustainable packaging across the company. With experience in upstream technologies, sustainable resins and EU funding projects, Gian has been involved in developing key partnerships across the value chain and managing open innovation through P&G’s Connect & Develop Programme.

To help drive cross-sector collaboration, Gian is a board member of Petcore Europe (the association representing the complete PET value chain in Europe), next to being very active in Plastic Recyclers Europe’s Recyclass platform (chair of advisory board and steering board member). Gian is also active in other cross value chain associations such as Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), Ceflex, and others. He is also a regular speaker at Packaging Conferences.

Recently, Gian has been initiating and leading the 3-year Pioneer project “HolyGrail” on the standardisation of markers/ watermarks in packaging (barcode for recycling), to increase efficiencies in high-quality sorting and to strive for higher recycling rates, as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative. This project received multiple awards (eg Packaging Europe’s 2019 Sustainability Awards, 2020 Edie Sustainabiliy award, WPO Worldstar Winner 2021, PAC Global Leadership awards 2021, next to some other awards. He also ensured the continuation of this project into establishment of HolyGrail 2.0 (100+ members, Gian chairs the Leadership team), facilitated by AIM (European Brands Association), to proof the viability of digital watermark technologies and business case at scale.

Gian has also been official juror for multiple packaging awards: PackTheFuture 2018, Dow DuPont Packaging Innovation Awards (2018), 2020 Plastics Recycling Awards and Packaging Europe’s Sustainability Awards (2018+2019+2020). He has been elected finalist for the 2018 and 2019 “EU Plastics Recycling Ambassador” (from Plastic Recyclers Europe) and actually received this title in 2019.

Gian is 45 years old and holds a degree in Polymer & Composites Engineering from Leuven University. He was born in Belgium and is married with 2 children. He is a big fan of sports (running/ squash/ padel/ cycling) and travel.

Fabrizio Di Gregorio is Technical Director at Plastics Recyclers Europe (RecyClass) and has a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Master Scientist in Environmental Science and Technology. He is able to assess and develop strategies in the field of packaging in the circular economy perspective (design for recycling, end-of-life treatment, recycling targets), assess and develop waste management and recycling strategies, develop Life Cycle Assessment for waste technologies and waste management scenario, develop mass and energy balances and material and substance flow analyses, and he is also an expert in chemical recycling (plastic waste gasification - in particular in fluidized bed technologies- and pyrolysis) and syngas purification.

Fabrizio is an author of several papers published in international scientific journals and he is a Referee for peer-reviewed scientific journals in the field of waste management, plastics, resources and sustainability, recycling, LCA, energy and fuels. He has presented several webinars on recycling for the FINAT community in the past years. 

Corey is President and CEO of AWA. He will be moderating the panel discussion on Thursday during ELF.

Since a young age, Bram Desmet has had a fascination for figures, numbers and structures. Over the years this has grown into a mission to help companies create sustainable change and value through S&OP. His foundation is the Supply Chain Triangle, which captures the balancing act between service, cost and cash that companies are facing today.

As a professor (Vlerick Business School, Ghent University and Peking University) and keynote speaker, Bram connects supply chain, strategy and finance through financial metrics, to show how supply chain has become the centerpiece of your business.

As CEO of Solventure, he grabs every opportunity to bridge the gap between academic concepts and industry practice. Solventure helps companies to understand the dynamics of the Supply Chain Triangle and how that is impacting their business. With a unique approach centered around people, process, tools and analytics, the team turns your Supply Chain into a competitive edge.

Co-Founder Content Marketing Fast Forward #CMFF (NL). Bert van Loon will be moderating a few of the panel discussions during ELF.

I grew up in the publishing industry where I held positions in sales, marketing and business development. I was given the opportunity to lead multidisciplinary teams, where I was able to ensure that business and creativity joined forces to give birth to client happiness. I often worked in international alliances across Europe. After a few years as the managing director of a publishing group in Belgium, I decided that I preferred concepts, strategy and projects to corporate management.

I launched my independent strategy and concept practice in 1997. Over the years, I experienced the transition from ‘print only’ to digital and cross-media, right from within the heart of the industry. I learned while doing and I saw both success and failure up close. Along the most diversified set of projects from different clients during all those years, I also participated as an entrepreneur in various publishing and media initiatives. Some worked wonders, some didn’t: I learned on the job in a fast-changing environment.

My experience of bringing business and creativity together to realise organisations’ marketing and sales objectives is a valuable asset in today’s content marketing world. My strength lies in projects where I can develop new initiatives or re-engineer existing ones, while teaching new skills to my client’s teams as they earn and learn. I love to work in a multidisciplinary and international environment, bringing my half-Dutch and half-French background to the table with a mixture of Dutch bluntness and French finesse.

Andy is Strategic Director at Tarsus Labels, Packaging & Brand Print Group and will moderate the Friday morning panel session together with Bert van Loon.

Andreas is a transformation leader with >15+ years of track-record of achieving value creation in both P&L leadership and top-management consulting positions. Full P&L responsibility for global packaging businesses (paper-and plastic-based) with plants in Europe, USA and Asia. His experience includes accelerating growth & innovation, leading global transformation programs, integrating acquisitions and developing management teams along with managing change globally.

Prior to joining MM, Andreas led the Consumer Flexibles business at Mondi as COO (President) and mostly recently, he held the CCO role at RKW, a leading films and packaging producer. Andreas led the successful transformation of a previously underperforming flexible packaging business by establishing a high-performance culture focused on clear strategic growth targets and by anchoring leading commercial and operational performance. Delivered >60% EBITDA and >100% ROCE improvement (2021 vs 2016).

Andreas started his professional career at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), most recent positions include Principal in the Industrial Goods Practice and Recruiting Director for BCG’s EMEA region. He holds a Master of Science (DI) in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Technology Graz and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in Evanston (2009).