Meet Our EPCA Session Speakers

Richard Roudeix
President, EPCA - The European Petrochemical Association
President Ventures EMEAI, LyondellBasell

Richard Roudeix has been elected EPCA president at the OGM on 30 June 2023 and is President Ventures EMEAI at LyondellBasell.

Richard is currently responsible for LyondellBasell’s Olefins business for the Europe region and the president of LyondellBasell companies in France.

A significant proportion of his career has been in the polymers business. Roudeix held several leadership roles in France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and the USA, with business experience in Europe, North America and Asia at LyondellBasell and its predecessor companies Basell, Elenac, Montell and Shell. A French national, Roudeix graduated as a civil engineer from the prestigious École des Mines and completed a post-graduate programme at the French Petroleum Institute’s École nationale supérieure du pétrole et des moteurs.

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Per Klevnäs
Partner
Material Economics (owned by McKinsey and Company)

Per Klevnäs has worked internationally with resource and climate issues as a consultant and researcher since the early 2000s. An economist by training, previous roles have included as an expert in McKinsey’s Sustainability Practice, Research Director of the New Climate Economy Project, a senior researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute, and Managing Director of an economic consultancy.

At Material Economics, Per helps companies set the right direction in the face of new business requirements and opportunities connected with energy, resource, and sustainability topics. He has worked widely across energy, basic materials, packaging, manufacturing, banking, and utilities on topics ranging from investment due diligence and acquisition scanning, low-carbon growth strategies, investment planning, product and technology development, and regulatory strategy.

Per also has a background in research and has worked extensively with government and philanthropic agencies. He is lead author of several high-profile international reports, including The Circular Economy – a Powerful Force for GHG Mitigation, Industrial Transformation 2050, Completing the Picture and the New Climate Economy report.

Per holds an MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge. He lives in Stockholm with his wife and two children.

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Ib Jensen
President & CEO
Perstorp Group

Ib Jensen has extensive experience in the specialty chemicals industry, previously serving as CFO of Perstorp. His background includes CFO and executive roles in Finance and IT at companies such as Arxada, Lonza, Syngenta, Danisco, and LEGO.

Ib focuses on sustainability and leads Perstorp's efforts towards achieving Finite Material Neutrality, emphasizing the customer and value chain perspective. Under his leadership, Perstorp is committed to environmental responsibility and sustainable growth.

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Lauren Schulte Kjeldsen
President Smart Materials & Member of Executive Board
Evonik

Lauren Schulte Kjeldsen is a distinguished leader in the chemical industry with over two decades of experience in global roles. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Lafayette College and an MBA from Lehigh University. Currently, she is a Member of the Executive Board and President of Smart Materials at Evonik. Her extensive career includes leadership positions in marketing, sales, and business management across North America, Europe, and Asia, where she has been instrumental in driving innovation and sustainability in the specialty chemicals sector.

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Dr Christian Kohlpaintner
CEO & Member of the Management Board
Brenntag

Christian Kohlpaintner born 1963, joined Brenntag as a Member of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer effective
January 1, 2020.

The Ph.D. chemist Dr Christian Kohlpaintner has more than 30 years of management experience in the chemical industry. This includes international executive roles in US, Switzerland and China where he lived and worked for several years each.

Dr Christian Kohlpaintner is member of the Board of Directors of the EPCA European Petrochemical Association and Member of the Präsidium of Verband der Chemischen Industrie (VCI).

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René Höhnlein
Managing Director, Head of Energy Germany
ING

Short bio :
-    Almost 25 years banking experience
-    Have worked for three financial institutions, 7yrs at DZ Bank AG, 10 yrs at BNP Paribas and since 2017 at ING
-    Since 2007 explicit focus on the German key players in the Chemical and Energy segment, with the relevant DAX 40 names being part of my responsibility
-    Was asked to join ING with the ambition to upscale the banks positioning vis-a-vis the large multinational bluechips
-    Energy and Chemicals retrospectively a highly beneficial combination, since the key energy players had to embark on an accelerated transition at the latest after Fukushima 2011 and underwent a substantial transformation already, a journey that the energy-intensive chemical sector started to undertake in the last years as well
-    Today, I am as Head of Energy Germany leading the bank’s efforts to support our clients on their decarbonization pathway and together with a team of ca. 20 energy professional we are responsible for the full range of banking services across the energy spectrum ranging from utilities, renewable energy (solar, onshore & offshore wind, battery storage), power and gas grids to hydrocarbons transition projects and New Energy Technologies
 

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Cedric Dumont
Pioneer in Wingsuit flying and BASE-jumping, Performance Psychologist and Author

Born in Brussels, Belgium, Cedric has always been involved in action and adventure sports.

Cedric is a pioneer in basejumping and wingsuit flying and is member of the RedBull team since 2000.

“This is all about freedom, commitment and pushing your limits, it takes me to amazing places, teaches me respect for the environment and others, motivates me to improve, and keeps me humble on those high gravity days.”

“Spending time on the road, meeting new friends all over the world, being close to the elements, sharing and inspiring, this is what keeps me moving and fascinates me, this is my way to live a free, mindful and engaged lifestyle.”

Beside being an action sports athlete, Cedric is also graduated in High Performance Psychology.
For over a decade, Cedric has been helping elite athletes and major organisations worldwide grow leaders at all levels by doing things differently and showing that performance come from purpose, passion and presence

Cedric brings a advanced vision and inspirational perspective to High Performance Psychology.

In extreme environments where one is expected to deliver and assess risks, hyper-awareness has been the foundation to his consistent performance and survival, it’s flow or die!
Skills such as dealing with emotions such as fear are very transferable to any kind of environment.

“It’s all about living a comprehensive lifestyle and being in the present moment.  This includes energy management and feeding the mind with healthy insights and generating positive thoughts.”

Cedric splits his time between leading expeditions, flying, speaking, writing and consulting for elite athletes and major companies all over the world.
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"I strongly believe that the world would be a better place if we all dared to explore our talents and skills, we need more happy people!"

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In her role as Global Procurement Manager Roberta is accountable for design and execution of the Logistics, Indirect and Services sourcing strategy of Infineum, leading a global disperse team.
She is an advocate of the important role procurement plays to balance supply security and service levels with cost competitiveness, becoming a strategic competitive advantage for the whole enterprise. She is also a stronger supporter of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workspace, she is part of the Infineum affinity groups and mentor of several female colleagues in the organisation.
Roberta has more than 25 years’ experience in the lubricant additives industry, holding roles in manufacturing, supply chain and planning, marketing, technology, and procurement.
She holds a Masters’ Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Genoa in Italy.

Virginie Delcroix is a graduate of the Mines de Nancy engineering school. She started her career in 1988 as a development engineer at 3M before moving in 1990 to SNPE Ingénierie where she worked as a project manager. In 1995, she became a sales engineer at La Calhene, a company specialized in protective equipment for the nuclear and pharmaceutical industries.

Virginie moved to Novacel in 1999, where she was successively responsible of industrial projects, technical director from 2006 and director of innovation and marketing from 2008. In 2011, she joined Bostik (a world leader in bonding solutions ) as head of R&D for the Southern Europe region and in 2017 she was promoted as Vice President Sustainability for Arkema group (a world leader in Specialty Materials).
In September 2022, she was appointed Executive Vice President Sustainable Development at GEODIS (a world leader in transport and logistics).

Based in Paris, Valerio is one of the leaders of the French office Operations Practice. He primarily serves clients in the chemical, mining, and metals industries. He is also one of the leaders of the Basic Materials, Chemicals, and Agribusiness Practices in France.

Valerio’s core expertise lies in industrial strategy and large scale transformation programs. He also helps clients with advanced analytics, complex manufacturing systems, and supply chain optimization.

Before joining Mckinsey, Valerio was operations director of the Global Firefighting business unit within United Technologies from 2009 to 2012.

He graduated from Polytechnic school of Milan and INSEAD.

Mrs. Hernandez is leading a team of 200 professionals across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India. Responsible for logistics procurement and operations, inventory and distribution planning, optimization and operations, customer service, and pricing. Before this appointment, she served as Global Senior Director for APS Manufacturing and Clinton Complex Site Manager. She has more than 27 years of experience in the petrochemical industry with roles in engineering, operations planning, research and development, and leadership in Manufacturing, HSE, and Supply Chain.
Hernandez is on the Board of Directors of the CEFIC Issue Team for Logistics and Transport, which she has chaired since December 2022, Logichem 2025 Advisory Board, Women In Logistics Consortium founding board member for the European Chemical Industry, and holds a supervisor board position at Basell Benelux B.V.
Yari has been recognized by the National Association of Manufacturers with the Women in Manufacturing 2022 Step Ahead Award for her passion for implementing the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy for the global LyondellBasell workforce, as well as, inspiring and influencing change in the Clinton, Iowa community. She has served as a DEI Council member at LyondellBasell since 2020. Her leadership and vision have contributed to positive change and a culture of inclusion and excellence.
She received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a minor in Environmental Engineering.