Women in Plastics announces line-up for GRIPS 2021 virtual conference

Women in Plastics — a professional initiative that recognises achievement, encourages development and supports diversity and equality across the plastics industry — has announced the line-up for its panel discussion at GRIPS 2021, a virtual conference, exhibition and showcase that will be held online, 16–18 March 2021. 

Women in Plastics will be hosting its own panel discussion: Women leading in Sustainability in the Plastics Industry on 17 March at 15:30–16:30 GMT. The online conference will end with a dedicated Q&A session.

The online conference will see three guest speakers, Katherine White, commercial director, Plastribution, Kirsty Wood, development technologist & sustainability lead for HEXPOL TPE and Dr Anthea Blackburn, team leader at Econic Technologies, discuss the different sustainability routes into their careers and how their companies are leading the way. 

Katherine was appointed to the company’s board of directors on 2011, making her the first female to have ever done so. She has a BSc in polymer science from Coventry University and has been with the company for 25 years.

Her primary focus is the thermoplastics side of the business where she works closely with the product group, sales, marketing, operations and finance teams. She also provides a regular interface with multiple supplier partners.

Katherine has supported and been involved with Women in Plastics since 2019.

Dr Anthea Blackburn is a team leader at Econic Technologies, a UK-based company offering an innovative catalyst technology that allows for the tailored incorporation of carbon dioxide in polymer manufacture, replacing up to 50% of traditional oil-based raw materials, for application in the plastics industry.

Upon completing her PhD in Chemistry at Northwestern University in the US, Anthea moved to the UK and has spent the past 5 years at Econic. During this time she has worked across and led multiple areas of the technical side of the business, from catalyst discovery and process development to new polymer product evaluation. In addition, she also manages the company's PR activities and profile within the industry, and has written a range of thought pieces about the importance of CCU adoption within the plastics industry.

Kirsty Wood has worked in the thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) industry for 9 years and is based in Manchester, UK. As development technologist & sustainability lead for HEXPOL TPE she works on the development of progressive TPE compounds that meet new and emerging market demands and leads the team's efforts in working sustainably, which primarily involves studying materials and low carbon alternatives to traditional polymers, working with customers to select and develop the right material for their project and working on various aspects of reducing the site’s environmental impact. She’s particularly excited about circular-economy principles and eager to see what the coming years will bring as businesses engage to deliver on the promise to keep global warming well below 2 °C.

HEXPOL TPE is an international polymer compounding group specialising in TPE for key industries such as consumer, medical, personal care, automotive and construction. They were among the first companies to produce TPEs in Europe.

To register your attendance at GRIPS 2021 please click here.