Dr. Wilfried Haensel spent four years as an assistant professor in economics at the Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany, before joining BASF AG, the German-based multi-national chemicals corporation, in 1984. Wilfried has held various executive positions in BASF, including Director Sales and Marketing of the agrochemicals business in Eastern Europe, Director of Regional Marketing of plastics in Asia/Pacific, Group Vice-President of BASF’s Styrenics Business Unit in Europe. Since January 2007, Wilfried has been appointed to Executive Director of PlasticsEurope in Brussels. He is 54, married and has one child.