Achim Grefenstein has joined the circle of scientific directors at the Institute f Plastics Processing (IKV) in Industry and Craft at RWTH Aachen University on 1 January 2024. His focus will be on interconnecting industry and academic research in the field of the circular economy. With this newly created position, IKV is emphasising the importance of the topic of sustainability for its own research and creating another important link to industry.
Achim Grefenstein is a graduate of the IKV and has worked as a lecturer in Compounding Technology and Recycling at the RWTH since his habilitation in 1998 alongside a career in the plastics industry. He started out as application engineer in technical marketing at BASF SE in 1996 and moved to RKW SE as Head of Research and Development in 2004. Since 2013 he has been Head of Research and Development at Constantia Flexibles and will keep this position alongside his new role at IKV.
"In addition to teaching, my new role is all about driving forward research in the field of recycling," says Achim Grefenstein. "I am deeply convinced that we will be able to master the related challenges if we succeed in establishing a close alliance between industrial and university research. I see this as my main task. I really look forward to working with the many young creative minds here at IKV!"
Apart from his work in the industry and at IKV, Achim Grefenstein addresses the topics of circular economy and plastics recycling in various committees. He has been an Advisory Board Member of the cross-industry initiative RecyClass of the industry association Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) since 2019 and Chairman of the Packaging Division of the industry association European Plastics Converters (EuPC) since 2020. From 2016 to 2020, Achim Grefenstein was also Chairman of the Bioplastics Working Group of the German industrial association for plastic packaging (IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen).
Contact
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Achim Grefenstein
+49 241 80-93834
achim.grefenstein@ikv.rwth-aachen.de