Sven De Vis
Milliken Europe

Sven De Vis is based at the Milliken Chemical European Technical Service headquarters in Ghent, Belgium.

Sven joined Milliken in 2012 as Technical Service & Development Engineer for the Polymeric Colorants and Ingredient Division. In 2019, Sven moved to Plastic Additives Division.

Ann Delmotte
IBE-BVI

PhD in Polymer Chemistry, VUB, Belgium, 1993.

Several technical and managerial roles in multinationals like DuPont de Nemours, Schulman Plastics and LyondellBasell.

At DuPont de Nemours: R&D in automotive coatings and technical support for TiO2 in coatings and plastics.

At Schulman Plastics: R&D management for colour and additive concentrates for plastic applications.

At LyondellBasell: similar function after acquisition of Schulman Plastics.

Currently: general manager at Belgisch verpakkingsinstituut (Belgian Packaging Institute) since April 2020.

Tom Mestdag
The Shepherd Color Co.

Tom Mestdag holds a Master’s Degree of Chemical Engineer and started his career in 1990 at Campine NV, Beerse (Belgium) as a Regional Sales Manager for Antimony Trioxide and Fire Retardant Masterbatches in Europe & Asia.

In 1997, he became Business Unit Manager for the Masterbatch division.

In January 2000, Tom joined The Shepherd Color Company as Regional Sales Manager. 2 years later, he became the European Sales Manager, with responsibility over the EMEA region.

In June 2020, he moved to Cathay Industries, globally the second largest producer of iron oxide pigments, where he held the position of Managing Director of their European branch.

In September 2023, Tom went back to The Shepherd Color Company as Sales & Business Development Manager for the EMEA region.

Ashok Adur
Everest International Consulting

Ashok M. Adur has a Ph.D. in Polymer Science & Engineering and >40 years in product development, business development, marketing & general management. He has >90 papers in professional journals and at conferences. His 77 patents resulted in > $2.5 billion/year. Dr. Adur is a Fellow of the SPE and consults at Everest International Consulting in his expertise in plastics, polymers, elastomers, compounding, composites, biopolymers, microencapsulation & specialty products for multiple end markets. His 3 chapters in a 2023 book on “Bio-Materials” covers biopolymers, biofibers & bio-based alloys and composites. He is currently authoring a chapter on “Other Additives” for SPE-sponsored CRC Handbook of Plastics in Building and Construction to be published later this year.

Hany Anwar
NORNER

Dr. Hany Anwar is a Senior Researcher and Project Manager at Norner AS, focusing on additives, mechanical recycling, and polymer upgrading. Since June 2020, he has led sustainability projects for B2B clients, the Norwegian Research Council, and EU sectors including automotive, healthcare, and food packaging.

Previously, Dr. Anwar spent 11 years as a Research Scientist in oil service and pharmaceutical companies, developing polymers and organic compounds, managing projects, and ensuring quality.

He earned a PhD in Pharmaceutical Organic Chemistry from Oslo University and a Master’s in Organic Chemistry from Cairo University.

Luis Roca-Blay
AIMPLAS

Degree in Chemistry from the University of Valencia in 1997

Working at AIMPLAS (the plastic technology center in Valencia / Spain) since 2000, first in injection molding and extrusion and a few years later starting the compounding department for he was head from 2009 to 2019.

From 2019 to 2021, he led the mechanical recycling group and is currently the Compounding technology Leader. His main role at AIMPLAS has been to develop R&D&I projects and technical consulting with companies at national and international level on topics such as: Polymer stabilization, Nanomaterials, flame retardancy, bioplastics, PVC formulation, electrical/thermal conductivity equipment start-up, purchasing and selection advice, etc … as well as training related to compound manufacturing, formulation, recycling, additivation, etc.

AIMPLAS Technical Staff
AIMPLAS

AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, is a leading research and innovation organization dedicated to supporting companies across the plastics value chain. With extensive expertise in materials, processing, testing, sustainability, and circular economy solutions, AIMPLAS works with industry partners to improve product performance, meet regulatory and certification requirements, and develop more sustainable plastic materials and applications. Through its advanced laboratories, technical services, training, and R&D capabilities, AIMPLAS helps organizations turn innovation into practical solutions for the future of plastics.

Roberto Chinchilla
Budenheim

PhD in Polymer Chemistry by the University of Durham in collaboration with the British multinational Synthomer Ltd.

Since 2023 working in the Innovation & Application Development department in Budenheim. Together with his team, he is in charge of the development of new additives for polymers such as, flame retardants, laser marking additives or CTI improvers.

Previously, he acquired experience, mainly in R&D and project management, in diverse fields like elastomers, stabilizers or friction materials for railways.

Roberto Todesco
Semki Chemicals SRL

Roberto V. Todesco obtained his Master Degree at the University of Ghent (Belgium) in 1975, followed in 1981 by a PhD at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) with a doctoral thesis on “ The Photo Behaviour of bi-chromophores” and finalized his research work with a postdoc on “The Photo Behaviour of Polymers” at the Radiation Laboratory (University of Notre Dame/South Bend in Indiana (USA).

Subsequently, Roberto worked for 2 years at DSM (the Netherlands) in the “Additives for Polymer Group”, dealing with the stabilization of polymers (PO and Engineering Plastics) and joined Ciba Specialty Chemicals (Basel/Switzerland) in 1988, taking care of the stabilization (process, thermal and light stability) of polymers as resp. technical service engineer, head of analytics and finally as WW head of the application laboratories.

In 2004 , Roberto joined Sabo International (Basel/Switzerland) as Technical Director, being responsible for all technical aspects of stabilizers and surfactants (antistats, antifogs and dispersing agents) produced at Sabo SPA (Levate/Italy).

Since 2016, Roberto started his own consulting company RVT Consulting (Allschwil/Switzerland) in the field of additives for polymers

Abstract

In the field of the stabilization of thermoplastics e.g. polyolefins, styrenics, ABS, polyamide, a.o. HALS (Hindered Amine Light Stabilizers), Phenolic Antioxidants and Processing Stabilizers play an utmost important role. Without the existence of these additives, all these thermoplastics would have not expanded successfully in all kinds of applications as we know today.

In today's situation of wars in Middle East and its possible negative consequences on the availability of raw materials, increasing prices of energy and intermediates, it is very important, in order not to have disruptions in your production to have alternatives available for the stabilizers you are currently using.

Furthermore, the more stringent EHS rules resulting from today’s REACH regulations, lead to restrictions in the use of certain stabilizers(CMR, SVHC,..).

In this presentation possible solutions are proposed for several classes of stabilizers in case you face problems as outlined above.

Muhammad Aslam
Momentive Performance Materials

Muhammad Aslam has been working as a Lead Application Development Engineer at Momentive Performance Materials in Germany since November 2017. In his current role in Technical Marketing and Application Development, he supports the Polymer Additives business across Europe, with a particular focus on plastics and composite additives based on silicone, silane, and siloxane technologies. Additionally, Muhammad leads long-term application development projects for global accounts across Europe.

Before joining Momentive, Muhammad worked at SABIC Innovative Plastics in Europe as a Processing Specialist in the Netherlands from 2012 to 2014. In January 2015, he transitioned to the Technical Marketing team in Germany as a Technical Service Engineer and later became the Senior Engineer for Technical Development in Europe for the Electrical & Electronics Industry.

Muhammad holds an M.Sc. in Polymer Technology from the University of Aalen, Germany, and has been working in the polymer industry in Europe since 2005. His key areas of expertise include engineering thermoplastics, specialty additives, and recycling and sustainability.

Niall Marshall
SpiralVector Consulting

Dr. Niall Marshall has spent more than thirty years making, modifying and processing plastics. He started his professional life working in the Research and Development Group of Sasol Polymers. From R&D he moved to Product Development and Process Optimization where he was responsible for the post- reactor modification of polyolefins. He then joined Sasol Wax as the Product and Market Development Manager for the Plastics Industry for Europe, Asia and North America. This included the development and marketing of FT waxes used as non- polar processing aids in polyolefins and engineering polymers as well as extending the range of products for the PVC.

From making and processing polymers he moved to Bahrain to improve and stabilize plastics, accepting a position with Ciba (later BASF) as Regional Technical and New Business Development Manager for the Plastics Industry in the Middle East and Africa.

In 2010, he was one of the founding partners of Everspring Middle East. As the Technical Director he was responsible for the technical approval and support of antioxidants and light stabilizers in the region as well as providing application support globally to polymer producers, converters and technology licensors.

In 2020, he was appointed Managing Director of Everspring Middle East, a position he held until 2025.

Since 2026, he has been with SpiralVector Consulting, an independent technical consultancy that applies systems thinking, scientific knowledge and strategic insight to the polymers, plastic converting and related industries. Niall has BSc(Hons) and MSc degrees in Chemistry from the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) and a DPhil from the University of Sussex (United Kingdom) where he studied the “Physical and Morphological Aspects of Polymer Stability”. He has presented technical papers at conferences in USA, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, UK, UAE, Saudi Arabia and South Africa and has authored and co-authored a number of scientific papers related to additive behaviour, polymer processing and the effect of morphology on polymer properties