Pet Container Recycling Europe:new Director General for PETCORE

PET Container Recycling Europe (PETCORE) has announced the appointment of Frank Koelewijn to the post of Director General. He succeeds Henk Hansler, who will continue to act as advisor to Mr. Koelewijn until 1 October 2001.

Mr. Koelewijn joins PETCORE from Kimberly-Clark, where he was Director Regulatory Affairs Europe. He will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of PETCORE, a non-profit association, whose key objective is to facilitate the economical recovery of PET containers. One of his first tasks will be to oversee the move of the PETCORE offices from Haarlem to Brussels - expected to be completed by the end of 2001.

Frank Koelewijn was born in 1952 in Den Helder, the Netherlands, and studied mechanical engineering. He subsequently joined Hoogovens in IJmuiden where he held various posts in the company's Quality Department.

In 1987 he joined Kimberly-Clark as Head of Quality for the company's manufacturing facility in Veenendaal, the Netherlands. After 4 years, he established the company's European environmental office, participating in hundreds of audits at facilities in the US, Europe and South Africa. Five years ago he was appointed to the post of Director Regulatory Affairs Europe, based in Brussels.

In this capacity, Mr. Koelewijn, who is married with three adult children, completed a two-year chairmanship of the Environment Committee of the American Chambers of Commerce in Belgium.

He confesses to being fascinated by the way Europeans manage to combine cultural diversity with active cross-cultural co-operation.

In taking up his post, Frank Koelewijn said: "PET is a wonderful product - and over the past two decennia, this industry has achieved an impressive combination of application development and awareness of its environmental superiority. Through PETCORE, I hope to be making a useful contribution to further innovation and discussions on sustainable growth."

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