ISPT Conference 2021: Industry in Society

Before becoming Managing Director of Netbeheer Nederland in July 2020, Dick Weiffenbach was a partner at EY/HVG Law for more than 20 years, where among things he led the Energy division within EY Netherlands and Belgium. He sees the creation of a sustainable energy system as the most important challenge facing network operators.

Evert is a journalist, specialised in sustainability and economics. He has worked with the scientific branch of GroenLinks on an ambitious climate plan. 

Jan is a well-known hysicist, former politician, and writer of essays, thrillers, and children’s books. Since as far back as the 1970s, Jan has been actively involved in nature conservation, and in recent years he has been a committed advocate of a greener earth. 

Sanne is director a.i. at the Wetenschappelijk Bureau GroenLinks (GroenLinks Science Bureau), the think tank for green and left politics.

Donald has a lifelong commitment to a society in harmony with nature, for the sake both of nature itself and of the society that depends on it. Donalds work on climate justice is animated by the belief that the ambitious climate policy that required will succeed only if it is socially equitable.

David is director of Top Sectors and Industrial Policy at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. The Directorate is the primary point of contact between the business community and the government and helps to bring about sustainable economic growth.

Gert Jan is CEO of OCI Nitrogen where he leads a number of optimization projects various plants. Prior to that he was responsible for all manufacturing and related activities.

Tjeerds directorate focuses on sustainability through innovation in processing. He is convinced that we can meet the great societal challenge of the energy and raw materials transition only if we engage with the private sector.

Since 2019 Martine has been Energy Transition Program Manager, a role that allows her to indulge her passion for contributing to a better environment, and for building constructive relationships with stakeholders along the way.

Yolanda is Plant Manager at Uniper Maasvlakte, and Managing Director Uniper Benelux. Through both of these roles she is leading Uniper’s energy transition in the Netherlands. 

Benny is Area Sales Manager for the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal at DMT, a major specialist in upgrading to biogas and the desulphurization of gas and biogas. The development of new adsorption techniques for CO₂ and the further development of BIOLNG have been among his areas of focus. 

Aike is CEO of VSPARTICLE, which sells equipment that allows customers to manufacture nanoparticles and nanostructured materials. He is also a faculty member at SingularityU Benelux, and in 2019 Forbes put him on his prestigious “Forbes 30 under 30 Europe” list. 

Andreas is Program Director System Integration. He is passionate about spotting opportunities, developing cutting-edge ideas and bringing them to successful implementation with clear business value. 

One issue that Eva’s research focuses on is how technology can contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She has developed the concept “From smart technology to wise technology” for STT. She believe we need to look beyond GDP if we want technological development to be aligned with the SDGs. 

Jurgen is Vice President Benelux and Managing Director BASF Netherlands. His passion for sustainable innovation and safety is reflected not only at BASF, but also in his chairmanship of Veiligheid Voorop (Safety First), which he has held since November 2019. 

Prof. Dr. Sascha Kersten is full professor Sustainable Process Technology at the Department of chemical engineering, University of Twente. He is specialized in pyrolysis, oils, water, biomass and wood. As chair of the Academic Advisory Board of ISPT he advocates closer cooperation between academic institutions and industry.

Kim is a Full Professor and Chair of Circular Plastics at Maastricht University. Her research centers is polymer science, with a focus on areas as concepts of quality for plastic recycling, the effects of contamination on structure-property relations in plastics, and the economics of different recycling technologies and the footprints they create.