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Eddie Kok
OPIS, a Dow Jones Company
Executive Director - Chemical Market Analytics
Presentation: "PVC Market Outlook - Shifting Trends and Disruptors That Will Define the Market Over the Next Decade"
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Karen Greaves
Lendlease
National Sustainability Manager
Presentation: "Circular Communities and Design of Cities"
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| Eddie is currently the Sr. Director in the Inorganic Group, Asia, at IHS Chemical. He has responsibility in managing a team of analysts and product experts in Asia that provide market coverage and analyses on the chlor-alkali and vinyls industry in the region. Eddie has a good grasp on the global chlor-alkali and vinyls sector dynamics and is the go-to person for data and market intelligence in Asia. In his current role, Eddie has worked on numerous chlor-alkali and vinyls projects around the Asia-Pacific region, providing analytical and planning support to client. He is a regular speaker at the World Petrochemicals Conference in Houston.
Eddie has over 20 years of working experience in the chemical industry, holding various responsibilities, ranging from regional sales & marketing, business development to product management role. Eddie received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Campbell University, North Carolina in 1988.
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Karen is the National Sustainability Manager for the Communities business at Lendlease. She has undertaken studies in photovoltaic and solar energy engineering, environmental economics and architecture.
In addition to helping the Communities business achieve Lendlease’s ambitious carbon targets of net zero for Scope 1 and 2 by 2025 and absolute zero for Scope 1, 2 and 3 by 2040, Karen is actively driving the development and implementation of the Circular Economy Strategy at Yarrabilba.
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Ashton Bishop
Step Change
Chief Executive Officer
Presentations: "Predatory Strikes Back" and "Next Horizon"
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David Baggs
Global GreenTag International
Chief Executive Officer
Presentation: "The Future Circularity of PVC"
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Ashton has spent over 20 years working internationally on some of the world’s biggest brands, running million-dollar campaigns for billion-dollar brands — specialising in Predatory Marketing — pinpointing how brands can grow by outsmarting their competitors. He’s a business owner and serial entrepreneur, always challenging, often controversial, and always focused on what gets results.
Ashton’s path to the stage was a somewhat unusual one. After graduating with a commerce/law degree, he turned his hand to street performing, TV presenting, stand-up comedy, film directing, and even literally ran away with the circus. Now that he has found his niche, he uses these past life skills to develop presentations that are a mix of theory, workshop, and Whose Line Is It Anyway — always relevant, topical, and entertaining.
Ashton has won the coveted Speaker of the Year Award from the world’s #1 CEO network three times. He has received film awards, guest-lectured at leading universities, won creative and strategic recognition from his peers, and was instrumental in developing Australia’s first mobile app.
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A renowned sustainability and materials expert, a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects and recently named as a Green Star Champion by the Green Building Council of Australia, David has led Global GreenTag International to become one of the most advanced product certification services and green label marks in the world, particularly for the sustainable building and design industries.
As a co-founder of Global GreenTag as a certification business in 2010, David also served as Program Director of the Global GreenTagCertTM Product Certification Program, until May 2023, developing it to become a leading ‘Beyond LCA’ based product ecolabel and Certification Mark that has since championed the work of progressive manufacturers and supported the advancement and uptake of healthy, ethical and environmentally conscious products throughout Australia and globally.
Voted one of Australia’s Top 50 Green Leaders and Top 100 Sustainability Leaders Globally, David is also a multi-award winning, green building architect, a GBCA Materials Expert Panel member and Past President of the Australian LCA Society.
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Craig Rispin
Future Trends Group
Futurist
Presentation: "The Future of Your Vinyl Industry"
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Kurek Ashley
Success international
Speaker
Presentation: "The Transformer"
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Craig Rispin is one of the world’s leading futurists - he is an expert in emerging business, people and technology trends – and how companies can profit from them.
Craig’s keynotes and strategic planning are powered by Artificial Intelligence research of over 1 million data sources - revealing the future of any industry or major topic.
He has over 35 years of experience working where the future has been created – with some of the most innovative organisations in the world.
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Kurek is recognized as one of the premier experts in personal and professional development, self-discovery and peak performance.
For over 30 years, Fortune 500 companies and major corporations around the world, such as Apple, The Australian Royal Airforce and Carlton United Brewery, have hired Kurek to teach them tactical success strategies that have produced awe-inspiring results.
Kurek Ashley is the #1 international best selling author of “How would Love respond?”.
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Peter Bury
Chemistry Australia
Director – Circular Ecnomy and Future Industries, and Company Secretary
Presentation: "Eliminating Plastic Pollution via a Balanced UN Treaty"
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Melissa Skidmore
CSIRO
Senior Research Scientist
Presentation: "Improving PVC Recycling Project"
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Peter joined Chemistry Australia in 2001 and is responsible for supporting sustainable industry growth, circular economy, and critical chemicals development. He provides specialist strategy, policy and technical advice on the chemicals and plastics sector for governments, industry, research, academia and communities.
Peter works with the global and Australian plastics industries to help end plastic pollution by accelerating circular economy outcomes to support the UN Treaty process. He represents industry on the National Reconstruction Fund Value-adding to Resources Working Group, Standards Australia Circular Economy Committee and the Australian Packaging Covenant Collective Action Group.
Peter has a diverse background of over 40 year’s experience in the automotive, materials handling, industrial and agricultural polymer films, association management and emergency services sectors. His responsibilities have included: manufacturing engineering; marketing and sales; plant management; environment, health and safety, research and development, recycling, and global/national issues management.
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Dr Melissa Skidmore is a senior research scientist with over 20 years’ experience in polymer, synthetic and computational chemistry and polymer analysis and characterisation.
Melissa is Work Package Lead for Waste Innovation for the CSIRO Ending Plastic Waste Mission and is a leader in the CSIRO Circular Economy research initiative.
Melissa combines her expertise to investigate the redesign, reuse and recycling of plastics. Melissa’s current research includes new polymer development- “recyclable-by-design”, the management and processing of problem plastics and the promotion of circular economy principles to turn plastic waste into a resource. Melissa co-authored “The recycled plastics market: global analysis and trends” CSIRO report.
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Gary Krishna
Queensland State Government
Minister for Environment
Presentation: "Accelerating Decarbonisation across Queensland"
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Nicole Sullivan
thinkstep-anz
Head of Strategy and Impact Australia
Presentation: "Embodied Carbon and EPDs - What are they?"
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Gary Krishna is a Regional Director at the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning, Gary has over 25 years’ experience in the Queensland Public Sector, during this time he has led economic development, industry development, investment attraction and stakeholder engagement activities across several State Agencies.
He is currently responsible for leading the industry development and regional programs that align with the Departments’ strategic plan, and for developing and driving the execution of industry roadmaps and strategies for priority industry sectors and place-based developments. This includes initiatives that develop and promote the international competitiveness and capability of Queensland’s defence, aerospace, space, superyachts, hydrogen, biofutures, biomedical, mining equipment, technology and services, and resource recovery industries.
He is a strong advocate for Queensland Businesses ensuring the delivery of initiatives such as departmental programs and workshops, which help grow business, supply chains and productivity. In addition, he is collaborating with local councils and businesses to assist with economic transition to become decarbonised, ensuring their sustainability in an international environment increasingly concerned about environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials.
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As the Head of Strategy and Impact Australia at thinkstep-anz, Nicole supports a wide range of companies to evolve their sustainability strategy, improve their impacts, and effectively communicate with the market. With a degree in chemical engineering and 18 years of process engineering experience, Nicole understands manufacturing at the ‘hard-hat level’. Her deep experience with LCA, EPDs, the building products industry, and green buildings bring practical and pragmatic insight to her holistic focus.
Prior to joining thinkstep-anz Nicole’s role as the Senior Manager of Green Star Solutions at the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) saw her manage the delivery of Green Star certification of buildings, fitouts and communities for over 4 years. She also led the development of the GBCA's new Responsible Products Framework and has a particular interest in empowering the building products industry to be ready for the challenges of the future. She believes that a combination of industry education, collaboration and commercially focused communication can provide the foundation for change.
Nicole’s passion is to inspire, empower and enable people so that together we can address the challenges of tomorrow, today. She is dedicated to supporting industry to find business excellence and commercial success in a sustainability context. She is a sought-after conference speaker, facilitator, and moderator.
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Sarah King
Circular Economy GHD
Sustainability Technical Director
Presentation: "Circular Economy - Business, Supply Chain and Industry"
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Tim Reardon
Housing Industry Association (HIA)
Chief Economist
Presentation: "Economic Outlook"
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Dr Sarah King is a national leader in circular economy, with 20+ years of experience as an accomplished professional in both public and private sector roles. Sarah’s specialist expertise lies in circular economy (CE), recycling, innovation, policy development, corporate sustainability management, and sustainable industry transition. Sarah invented ‘ASPIRE’, Australia’s first CE matchmaking marketplace, and delivered Australia’s first national CE roadmap. Sarah is a results-driven leader with a proven record of establishing and driving innovation projects, managing major projects, securing commercial investment, managing teams and influencing national policy. Prior to joining GHD, Sarah established CSIRO’s (Australia’s National Science Agency) Ending Plastic Waste Mission as Work Package Leader for Waste Innovation.
Sarah has delivered research on advanced recycling of plastics, battery recycling opportunities and supply chain options for remote recycling of problematic waste streams. Sarah has expertise in designing CE pilots including Australia’s first trial of recycling disposable nappies using anaerobic digestion. Sarah is also an Adjunct Associate Professor with Swinburne University of Technology.
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Tim Reardon joined HIA in 2004 as the Executive Director Government Relations working on the Housing Affordability summit in the lead up to the federal election. Tim then took on the role of Executive Director Tasmania until 2007. During this time a builder’s licensing regime was introduced including reforms to home owners warranty and HIA warded off an increase in energy efficiency standards in new homes.
After leaving HIA, Tim then represented the automotive manufacturers during the industry review of 2008 gaining $4.8 billion in industry assistance. He represented the electricity generators through the introduction and repeal of the carbon price in 2012 and also worked as a consultant for a number of other industry groups and companies on federal policy matters.
Tim re-joined HIA as Chief Economist in 2017, heading up the HIA Economics team.
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Elizabeth Rose
Ernst & Young
Partner
Presentation: "Modern Slavery in Australia"
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Tapas Strickland
National Australia Bank (NAB)
Head of Market Economics
Presentation: "Australian Economic Update"
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| Elizabeth Rose is a Partner with Ernst & Young’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services team based in Brisbane. Elizabeth has 20 years’ experience in sustainability and climate change, working with organisations in manufacturing, mining, energy and resources to navigate the evolving landscape of non-financial risks, including climate change, biodiversity loss, social performance, human rights and modern slavery. In recent years, this has included a focus on understanding these risks within organisations’ supply chains, and to design and implement strategic approaches to risk mitigation and pursuing opportunities. |
Tapas is Director of Economics at NAB and provides commentary and insights for clients on the economy and financial markets, including regularly kicking off the working day with key overnight updates on NAB’s Morning Call podcast. Having recently spent the past couple of years in the London office, he continues to work with NAB’s diverse range of clients, from SMEs to institutions, both in Australia and abroad. Prior to NAB, Tapas spent six years at the Reserve Bank of Australia and worked as an economic adviser in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, advising the Gillard, Rudd and Abbott governments. |
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Cara McNicol
Office of Circular Economy - Department of Environment and Science Queensland
Policy and Legislation Manager
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Clinton Skeoch
AGWA
Executive Director and CEO
Presentation: "The NCC 2022 7-Star Housing Changes and the Impact to Window Selection"
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| Cara is a policy and legislation Manager within the Office of Circular Economy, in the Queensland government. Cara has worked within the government for nearly 30 years in various roles, from running national environmental pest and disease eradication programs to her current role developing and implementing state environmental strategies and legislation. Cara’s team delivered the Queensland Organics Strategy and its supporting Action Plan and works across addressing Plastic Pollution and Waste Management reforms and circular economy initiatives. |
Clinton Skeoch is the Executive Director and CEO of the Australian Glass and Window Association which has run the Window Energy Rating Scheme (WERS) for nearly 30 years. He is also the Chair of the Australian Fenestration Rating Council. With more than 25 years’ experience across building products, research and development and member services industries. Known for his passionate collaborative style when it comes to working with industry stakeholder groups and aligned partners Clinton is keen to lead the team at AGWA to help identify and build a growing and sustainable window and glass industry. |
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Christian Keel
Edge Impact
Head of Circular Economy & Lifecycle Thinking
Presentation: "Maximise Value of EPDs"
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Cindy Bray
PIPA
Executive General Manager
Presentation: "How We Communicate Positioning PVC Pipes in the Circular Economy"
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Christian is the Head of Circular Economy & Lifecycle Thinking (CELT) at Edge Impact a full-service sustainability consultancy that combines science, strategy, and storytelling to create positive impact.
He is regarded as a leader in the sustainability sector with proven experience developing innovative solutions to national-scale sustainability challenges by inspiring people and enabling cross-sector collaboration. Christian has been pivotal in developing decarbonisation strategies for regional Australia and has recently led the Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation (ISJO) Circular Economy Investigation. He also has extensive experience across the public and private sector including experience across half of the current ASX20 companies in a range of leadership, strategy, and commercial roles.
Christian is at the forefront of the circular economy movement and through his role at Edge, with the support of the Commonwealth Government, has recently delivered Fit for Office an industry-led, voluntary product stewardship scheme design for the commercial furniture sector.
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Cindy Bray is the Executive General Manager of Plastics Industry Pipe Association of Australia Ltd - PIPA; the peak industry body representing the interests of Australia’s plastics pipe, fitting and resin suppliers since 1999.
Prior to joining PIPA, she was the Product and Category Marketing Manager, responsible for the technical marketing and product development functions for Iplex Pipelines Australia Ltd, one of Australia’s largest manufacturers of PVC (-U, -M, -O), PE, PP, PE-X, PB and GRP pipeline products. Her plastics pipe career spans more than 18 years in a variety of hands-on technical marketing, product management and communications functions.
Cindy holds an Executive Master of Business Administration degree and has a strong focus and passion for sustainability now and into the future – continuing to share the industry’s sustainability story through advocacy, education, technical data, and science.
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Dr. Amir Razmjou Chaharmahali
Edith Cowan University (ECU) - Mineral Recovery Research Centre - School of Engineering
Leader
Presentation: "Recycling of PVC Cable"
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Gandi Kuswandi
PT Asahimas Chemical
PVC Division Manager
Sponsor Presentation
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Dr. Amir Razmjou is currently a Lecturer in the School of Engineering at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia. He is also the board director of the Membrane Society of Australasia (MSA), founder and leader of the Mineral Recovery Research Centre (MRRC) at ECU, and an editorial board member of the Journal of Desalination.
Dr. Razmjou has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles in top-tier journals related to his research, accumulating over 7300 citations. With a remarkable achievement of securing a staggering AUD 8 million in research funding, including AUD 1 million as the lead chief investigator and an additional AUD 7 million as a Co-CI, he stands at the forefront of technological advancements.
Dr. Razmjou has pioneered the integration of bioleaching with cutting-edge membrane processes, ushering in a new era of purifying and concentrating lithium ions extracted from minerals. His expertise in developing advanced ionselective membranes, backed by fundamental studies using MD simulation and DFT calculation techniques, promises a sustainable and efficient future for the industry.
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For over 20 years, Gandi Kuswandi has been a noteworthy leader in the PVC resin industry. With a chemical engineering background, he built his career at PT Asahimas Chemical since 1998. As a PVC Division Manager, his goals are not limited to ensure the PVC resin product always meet customer specification including quantity and quality aspects but also determine to attempt improvement in production process to contribute PVC sustainability. Micro plastic management and PVC’s circular economy development are his main focus.
Before devoting to PT Asahimas Chemical, Gandi served at PT Dwi Sakti Mulya as Technical Service Ceramic Industry and PT Sarana Teknik Abadi as Chemistry Analyst of Water Treatment.
In addition to being a professional in PVC resin industry, Gandi also committed in professional membership. He is a member of Vinyl Council of Australia (VCA) since 2018. Since 2015, he actively being a coordinator for Indonesian Members at ASEAN Vinyl Council (AVC). He also in charge as Chairman of Asia Pacific Vinyl Network (APVN) since 2023.
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Hulusi Bulduk
Haffner Machinery
Director
Sponsor Presentation
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Jade Meredith
Employsure
Employment Relations Advisor
Presentation: "Workplace Relations - Recent Trends/Watchouts for Employers in Australia"
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Hulusi Bulduk is the current Director of Haffner Machinery. After studying mechanical engineering at Technische Hochschule Koblenz University, he returned to Turkey in 1993 and became a partner in Elumatec, where he worked for 20 years.
In 2003, he expanded his activities by forming a partnership with Murat Makina and in 2011 acquired Haffner Makina, further strengthening his presence in the PVC and aluminium window and doors sectors. Hulusi Bulduk has become a well-known figure in the industry over the years, making significant contributions to the business world. His entrepreneurial spirit and successes in the business world reflect his contribution to Turkey's construction sector and innovative technologies.
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Jade Meredith is an Employsure Employment Relations Advisor, based in Queensland who has gained human resources experience by working in generalist roles across diverse industries, including Aviation, Sporting and Hospitality.
This experience has assisted Jade to provide timely, practical and commercial advice to employers on day-to-day employment relations issues and compliance with employment legislation.
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Rifai Rachmat
Primaplas
Founder and Managing Director
Sponsor Presentation
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Sophi MacMillan
ARFA
Project Director - ResiLoop
Presentation: "ResiLoop Project"
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Rifai Rachmat is the Managing director and founded Primaplas in Australia in 1989. He began selling PT Asahimas PVC into Australia in 1992, and today Asahimas and Primaplas are a major supplier of PVC resin to the Australian PVC industry.
Rifai has always been interested in Polymer materials, and obtained a Bachelor of Applied Science (Materials Engineering) from Melbourne University majoring in Polymers and started his career at Shell Chemicals in Indonesia. He is experienced in a wide range of polymers including PVC, Polyolefins, Polystyrenes, PET and many others.
Over 40 years he has built up a strong network of industry contacts in Asia and helped Australian plastics customers buy their raw materials competitively from world class suppliers in the region.
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Following an early working life in the finance industry in London and Hong Kong, Sophi followed her curiosity to understand how to embed environmental sustainability in economic development. She qualified as an environmental scientist in the early 1990s, bringing her to Melbourne, and has spent over 20 years implementing industry-wide strategies at national and global levels to drive sustainability and transformation, mostly in the plastics and chemicals sector. With a focus on encouraging and supporting collaboration along supply chains, she has initiated strategic sustainability improvement through responsible sourcing, product stewardship and recycling.
She is now working with major global brands in the Australian resilient floorcovering industry to design a national product stewardship scheme and develop onshore reuse/recycling solutions for their products.
Sophi is an experienced association executive, company secretary and NFP director and has contributed on advisory panels for initiatives such as Green Star and Global Green Tag.
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Matthew Hoyne
Welvic Australia
Director and VCA Chairman
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Dr Chris Cooper
Allunga Exposure Laboratory
Manager
Presentation: "Testing and Evaluating Durability"
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| Matthew Hoyne is the current VCA Chairman and Director of Welvic Australia, a manufacturer of PVC compounds, dryblend and recycling based in Melbourne. Matthew joined the plastics industry in 1994 and has had roles with different companies prior to joining Welvic where he has been for the past 15 years. |
After completing a B.Sc. and M.A. at James Cook University, Chris Cooper worked in electron microscopy and technical writing/publishing for 12 years.
Following that for the last 30 years or so he has worked with Allunga Exposure Laboratory focussing on durability testing and other aspects of materials testing, with particular regard to coatings, plastics, and composite materials. He has also led collaborative programs with other materials testing laboratories across the globe and worked with regulatory bodies.
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Nigel Jones
Australian Vinyls Corporation -
Representing Formosa Plastics Corporation
Technical Manager
Presentation: "Developments in PVC – Learnings from the International PVC 2024 Conference"
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