Alpla has new leadership in Western Europe and Asia
Packaging and recycling specialist Alpla is restructuring its leadership in its two Western Europe (WEEU) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions. Roland Wallner (Managing Director APAC since 2021) will take over as Managing Director Western Europe (WEEU) on April 1, 2025. Ronald Tichelaar, General Manager China until then, will succeed him as Managing Director APAC at that time.
Roland Wallner has over 27 years of international management experience in Europe, the US, Middle East and Asia, and has been with the company for 14 years. During his time in Asia, driving significant top- and bottom-line growth, Wallner built up and expanded the company’s presence in several Asian countries and oversaw multiple major greenfield projects. He established the new technical centre for product development in Shanghai and introduced services such as the STUDIOa design centre and mould manufacturing. In recent years, Wallner successfully merged the former North-East Asia and South-East Asia regions into the new APAC region, based in Singapore.
The WEEU region comprises 31 base plants and 17 in-house plants in ten countries. There are about 5,700 people employed in Alpla’s largest region. Roland Wallner will be based at the headquarters in Hard initially and report directly to the CEO.
Ronald Tichelaar takes over APAC region
The new Managing Director APAC is Ronald Tichelaar. Tichelaar has 14 years of international management experience at Alpla, including as Head of Operations in North Asia and Plant Manager in Spain. As General Manager China, he led six plants, the technical centre and STUDIOa in Shanghai as well as the mould shop and Future Corner training centre. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Tichelaar revitalised business growth, achieved first-class operational excellence and set benchmarks in quality and efficiency, says Alpla.
The APAC region brings together 12 locations with 2,650 employees in four countries. At the beginning of 2025, Alpla opened its second plant and headquarters for Thailand in Chachoengsao.
Photo f.l.t.r.: Ronald Tichelaar and Roland Wallner