Profile & expertise

Recticel is the number 1 company in the production of polyurethanes in Europe. Its strengths are the big variety of polyurethane products made for a variety of markets.

As an international industrial player, Recticel wants to make an essential difference in daily comfort for everyone. Relying on his competences, his profound expertise in the transformation of polyurethane chemistry, Recticel is committed to providing responsible answers to the various challenges and needs of our time, and to creating shared value for Recticel and society. In an efficient, sustainable and balanced manner, Recticel aims to add value and achieve steady, profitable growth for all clients and shareholders.

Recticel serves diverse markets, primarily in Europe, which accounts for around 93% of the net sales. Recticel is also active in the USA and Asia, where the company supports his industrial clients in finding innovative, sustainable solutions by implementing ever more responsible and value-creating products and services

Our core portfolio is organised around four application areas: Flexible Foams, Insulation, Bedding and Automotive.

Recticel as the largest European Polyurethane manufacturer driven by its sustainability strategy, wants to take the lead in solving the recycling issues connected to thermoset polyurethanes. At first Recticel wants to be involved in the circular economy and hence will be a manufacturer and user of recycled materials. The company wants to spread the new techniques in the market and has the ambition to be at the cradle of a new era of polyurethanes.

Role in the Project

Recticel is the coordinator of this H2020 project and will drive the PUReSmart project towards a successful realization. As coordinator, Recticel is the intermediary between the partners and the EC and will be the chairman of the general assembly as the steering body of the consortium. Recticel is also chairing the executive board, the body taking care of the day-to-day management of the project consisting of both strategic and operational management tasks.

MAIN CONTACT

Bart Haelterman

haelterman.bart@recticel.com

+32 9 368 75 65

www.recticel.com

Bart Haelterman: Innovation Manager and Corporate HS&E Manager

Dr. Bart Haelterman graduated in Chemical Science in 1992 and obtained a PhD in Chemical Science at the University of Leuven in 1996. He worked for INEOS as an R&D responsible from 1996 till 2001 and subsequently was in charge of 3 batch and continuous world scale production units from 2001 till 2006. He joined Recticel in 2006 as R&D manager in automotive chemical and technological R&D and he managed supplier quality procedures for automotive, corporate R&D in the field of compounds for CASE and future low lambda insulation concepts. In 2013, he got the position of R&D portfolio manager responsible for definition of projects in the fields of insulation, bedding, flexible foams and sustainability. Since 2016, he was appointed as Innovation Manager Corporate Sustainability and additionally Corporate HS&E manager since 2017. He is PRINCE2® Foundation certified project manager, fellow of the Chemistry department of the KU Leuven and active in several industrial and sectorial organisations.

Lucie Imbernon: R&D Engineer

Dr. Lucie Imbernon graduated in 2012 as Engineer in Physics and Chemistry from ESPCI Paris (Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles, engineering school in Paris). She then got her PhD in polymers and material science from University Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris in 2015. Her PhD work dealt with the application of covalent reversible chemistries in rubbery materials based on natural rubber to make reshapable and recyclable chemically crosslinked elastomeric networks. During her postdoc position at Ghent university, she strengthened her expertise in dynamic materials by working in collaboration with Recticel on a project towards circular PU (using both CANs and vitrimer chemistries). She then joined Recticel in 2017 as R&D Engineer, leading and collaborating on projects running in the R&D Corporate Sustainability department.

Isabel Verlent: R&D Engineer

Dr. Ir. Isabel Verlent graduated in Bioscience Engineering (main subject: Food Technology) at the University of Leuven in 2000 and in 2005 gained the degree of doctor in Bioscience Engineering at the same university. She worked as post-doctoral researcher (funded by IWT Vlaanderen) at the University of Leuven from 2005 till 2008. From 2008 till 2010 she worked as process technologist at Rendac Denderleeuw, after which she filled in the vacancy of energy consultant at E20 Ghent. She joined Recticel in 2010 as Chemical Analyst (R&D Engineer) in the analytical lab (IDC) responsible for chemical testing, method development and planning with expertise in thermal analyses, FTIR, microscopy and titrimetry. Since 2016, she is appointed as R&D Engineer responsible as project leader in the division Corporate Sustainability (SID).

Joke De Geeter: R&D expert

Ir. Joke De Geeter graduated in Bioscience Engineering (main subject: Colloid and Surface Chemistry) at the University of Ghent in 2008. She started directly as R&D engineer in Recticel on September the 1st 2008. After a 6-month training program in the R&D flexible foam team, she was responsible for 2 chemical development platforms: (i) vibration damping and (ii) PU prepolymers. In 2010 she received the project lead of the European FP7 project “NanCore” to develop new polyurethane rigid foams for windmill applications. In 2015, she promoted to R&D domain leader of the Energy absorption domain in the R&D department, wherein she defined market trends, identified alpha-customers and defined a strategic R&D program. In 2016, she became R&D expert in the sustainability corporate program which covers a mixed portfolio of development projects on 3 complementary topics: (i) mechanical recycling, (ii) chemical recycling and (iii) new business development

Anne Lingier: F&A Officer

Anne Lingier has a master degree in Applied Languages Dutch, French and Spanish. She started her carrier as assistant to Group Controller at the Recticel HQ financial department. Subsequently she continued her carrier in the Sustainable Innovation Department of Recticel as Finance and Administration Officer mostly in charge of the financial management of the department and responsible for the financial and legal tasks of all subventions projects.

Subramaniam Iswar: R&D Engineer

Dr. Subramaniam Iswar completed his bachelor studies in Chemical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India. Subsequently, he did his Master’s in Chemical and Bio-process Engineering at the Technical University of Hamburg, Harburg, Germany. He then got his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Fribourg/Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa, Switzerland). His Ph.D. work focused on the fundamental studies of silica and polymer-reinforced silica aerogels, for thermal insulation applications. He joined Recticel in 2018 as an R&D Engineer and is now responsible for leading projects in the field of Insulation and Corporate Sustainability. He is also actively driving various initiatives in the field of data analytics.

Jan Willems, Recticel

Jan Willems (R&D expert) graduated as Master of Science in organic chemistry, and started in 1994 working for Recticel as R&D engineer. Between 1998 and 2018, he had different R&D management positions linked to project management, technology, innovation and new business development. In 2018, he became an R&D expert, with focus on sustainability: mechanical & chemical recycling, new sustainable business development.