John Wante is advisor on environment policy for the Belgian federal minister of Environment, Climate, Sustainable Development and Green Deal. He works on product policy, the circular economy and critical raw materials. Before that he worked as policy officer with OVAM, the Flemish Public Waste Agency, on waste and materials policy, on the regional, federal, European and international level. His educational background is chemical engineering.
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Rikarnto Bountis
Senior Technical Advisor
European Recycling Industries' Confederation (EuRIC)
Rikarnto Bountis joined EuRIC in October 2020. He has a bachelor’s in environmental engineering from the Polytechnic University of Patra and a master’s in waste and resource management from the University of the West of Scotland. After completing his studies, Rikarnto worked in the energy sector for a British consultancy, and then joined amfori, the leading global business association for open and sustainable trade, as an environmental expert. At EuRIC, he is managing technical issues that emerge from the interface between waste, chemicals and product legislation as well as relevant reference documents. The legislative files followed by Rikarnto include the production, collection and end of life treatment of ferrous and non-ferrous metals as well as waste electrical and electronic equipment.
Born in Pamplona/Iruña in 1980, Uxue Itoiz has a degree in biology from the University of Navarre. She also has training in the use and management of geographic information systems, group facilitation and conflict resolution. From 2016 to 2021, she worked on the promotion of the Navarre agency for territory and sustainability, Lursarea. In this field, she managed projects to promote sustainable territorial development based on public-private partnerships. She has promoted cooperation between local, regional and European administrations and is an expert in sustainable mobility. Uxue has also participated in projects focusing on the use of biomass as an energy source and wood for high-rise construction. She has supported the local action groups of Navarre in projects that promote the circular economy and energy transition.
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Anis Nassar
Lead, Resource Circularity
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Anis Nassar is an economist who leads the circular economy agenda of the WEF. He represents the WEF with external organisations such as the Global Battery Alliance, the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) and the Circular Electronics Partnership (CEP).
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Katja Suhr
Head of Circular Economy Team
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Katja Suhr leads the circular economy programme at GIZ. With a background in international business administration, she has over 20 years’ experience in international cooperation with a focus on business development and sustainable management.
Solange was appointed as CSO for ABN AMRO Bank in January 2023. In this role she is responsible for driving their sustainability transition. During her 25-year career she has held diverse positions within the ABN AMRO Group, including multiple supervisory positions, and has lived and worked in six different countries. In her last position she was the bank’s country executive in Belgium and has held responsibility for sustainability in previous positions as well. She holds a master’s in business economics and is a Certified European Financial Analyst.
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Jocelyn Blériot
Executive Lead, Policy and Institutions
Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Jocelyn Blériot has been with the foundation since its creation in 2010, after 15 years spent in the media and publishing industry. He leads the organisation’s institutional engagement and the work with national governments across the foundation's offices in Europe, Latin America, China and North America. He manages the relationship with supra-national bodies such as the European Commission, United Nations, G7/20 Resource Alliance, OECD and the World Economic Forum. Jocelyn has been a member of the circular economy advisory board of the China Council for International Cooperation on Development (CCICED) and currently is a part of the international advisory network of the forum on Trade, Environment and the SDGs (TESS).
Burcu has over 20 years’ experience working with the private, public and non-governmental sectors on transitions to sustainable consumption and production patterns. She currently leads the circular economy programme in the global sustainability compliance team at HP. Her previous work includes research on sustainable products at the Wuppertal Institute, senior expert support for the SWITCH-Asia network facility hosted by CSCP, management of the SwitchMed network in the MENA region, circular economy network lead for local governments at ICLEI, and co-lead for circular economy at adelphi. She is an environmental engineer and holds an MBA and an MSc in environmental management and policy. She is also an implementing partner of CTI.
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Zakia Khattabi
Minister of Climate, Environment, Sustainable Development and Green Deal
Belgium
Zakia Khattabi became a politician in 2009. Her parliamentary work has mainly been devoted to the justice, home affairs and equal opportunities committees. In 2015, Khattabi was elected co-president of her party, a role she held for five years before being appointed to her current ministerial post in 2020. Khattabi believes that the triple crisis we are facing (climate, loss of biodiversity and pollution) is not just an environmental issue: it is the social issue of this century because it hits the most vulnerable amongst us hardest, even though they are the least responsible for this crisis. In her view, the transition is therefore an imperative of social justice. Moreover, it also constitutes an economic, financial and public safety issue. As Belgian federal minister, she regularly took on the role of EU negotiator on crucial issues at international conferences on climate and biodiversity.
Kristin has extensive experience and a multidisciplinary knowledge base in urban development. She previously worked in the public sector in Sweden as an environmental urban planner, guiding city development sustainably for people, planet and the environment. At Circle Economy, she is responsible for research and analysis behind circular city support, including creating strategies, road maps and guidance documents. Additionally, Kristin facilitates workshops, providing expertise and insights to promote sustainable urban planning practices, emphasising ecological and societal well-being. Her work focuses on innovative circular solutions for urban challenges, fostering environmentally friendly and socially inclusive urban spaces.
