PlasticsEurope appoints director of Public Affairs
PlasticsEurope, the pan-European association representing European plastics manufacturers, is announcing the appointment of Leonor Garcia as Director Public Affairs. She will take up her new position at PlasticsEurope as of September 1, 2015. Presently, she is Director Corporate Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at The Coca-Cola Company, responsible for providing thought leadership, strategic direction and driving all external advocacy and representation of the company’s interests in external organisations related to food packaging safety. "We are delighted to be able to appoint someone of Leonor’s stature, experience and ability to this important role", said Karl-H. Foerster, Executive Director of PlasticsEurope. "Her experience in senior positions across different markets of industry will be an invaluable asset to PlasticsEurope, our members and external partners".
Leonor Garcia added: "I am very honoured to take on the position of Director Public Affairs, and to have the opportunity to work with such a talented and experienced team. PlasticsEurope has a crucial role to play in communicating the benefits of plastics to a wide range of stakeholder audiences, and at the same time, in helping drive sustainable industry responses to challenging societal issues. I look forward to providing my own contributions to this effort, while building on existing initiatives." Leonor Garcia has dual Belgian and Spanish nationality and has worked for both the European as well as the global market. She holds a Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
Prior to joining Coca-Cola, she was the Manager of the European Product Stewardship and Regulatory Affairs Department at UCB Chemical Specialties (now Cytec/Allnex) which product range included plastic films and a wide variety of additives and resins for adhesives, coatings and inks. She also worked for 10 years at Exxon Chemical (now EXXONMOBIL) where she held several positions of increasing responsibility ranging from Product & Process Development to Product Safety & Regulatory Affairs.
