Cefic welcomes new Executive Director Operations (COO)

Cefic is pleased to announce that Hartwig Wendt joins Cefic as Executive Director Operations (COO), heading also the Public Affairs department.

Looking ahead at the vital role industry plays in helping Europe meet its 2050 European Green Deal goals, while ensuring strategic independence of critical raw materials, he said: “I am delighted to join Cefic at a pivotal time for our industry. The Covid 19 pandemic and current supply chain problems caused by the war in Ukraine clearly show how important it is for Europe to have its own production facilities, well-trained, efficient employees, and functioning supply chains on our continent. The EU chemicals industry is a major supplier of all manufacturing industries and essential and strategic value chains, including pharmaceuticals, electronics, EV batteries, construction materials. A strong chemical industry is therefore essential for European Green Deal and Europe’s strategic autonomy.

Together with the European Commission, Member State governments and civil society, we would like to continue working on realistic transition scenarios to enable our sector to achieve the goals of the Green Deal whilst maintaining a strong and competitive manufacturing base here in Europe.”

Hartwig looks back on more than twenty years of business experience in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry: As a Corporate Vice President at Bayer, he served as a strategic advisor to the Board of Management in different roles. Inter alias, he delivered the strategic rationale to carve out the materials business in 2014, which operates today under the name of Covestro.  In the last three years, Hartwig led the Global Public Affairs Issue Management team of the company.  Hartwig holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the Free University of Berlin.