Sebastian Bartels joined FBCA as Director General in June 2025. With a background in environmental and safety engineering, he brings over 20 years of international leadership in sustainability, risk and safety, and quality, with full accountability for P&L, strategy, innovation, business development, supply chain management, regulatory affairs, and cross-sector collaboration.

He champions industry-wide accountability and responsible packaging systems that serve climate action, circularity, and broader societal needs.

Sebastian holds a degree in Safety and Environmental Engineering (Dipl.-Ing.) from the Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany.

Boris has more than 15 years of experience in corporate and crisis communications and public affairs in Central and Eastern Europe. He oversees the FBCA CEE team in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia.

His previous work includes the International Solid Waste Association, OSCE, the European Commission, Junior Chamber International and several NGOs across the region.

Boris is an Austrian national and holds an MA of the University of Vienna’s Institute of Communications, where he is occasionally teaching. Boris is guest professor at the Edward Bernays College of Communication Management in Zagreb.

As a qualified agricultural economist, Michael spent many years working for the dairy industry on a wide range of subjects and different companies; as Managing Director of the German Dairy Industry Association, his responsibilities included also procurement, packaging and waste management.

In 2010, he switched from ‘content to packaging’ and took over the management of FKN e.V., the German association for beverage cartons, with its operational recycling subsidiary Recarton GmbH. Recarton commercially organises the recycling of paper fibres from used beverage cartons from Germany at special paper mills in Europe. During this phase, the ‘Palurec’ project was developed, which for some time now has also been separating the remaining non-fibre materials ("PolyAl") from the liquid packaging board after fibre extraction for reuse in a processing plant near Cologne.

By 2019, the leading global manufacturers of beverage cartons and liquid packaging board producers founded the European recycling platform EXTR:ACT e.V. which aimed to optimise and expand the collection, sorting and recycling of used beverage cartons and comparable packaging across the entire value chain. Michael was the Managing Director of EXTR:ACT before he joined FBCA.

Raymond has in-depth knowledge of the full recycling value chain for fibre-based composite packaging from collection to valorisation, and likes to look at these recycling steps with a system approach. Because of his many years of experience as innovator and business developer in the world leading energy and waste valorisation companies Engie and Suez, he has a clear view of how sequential steps in the recycling process are interconnected. As a scientist, for him the facts are leading and as former navy officer he prefers a structured but pragmatic way of working: everything is possible, just go for it.

Raymond lives in the south of the Netherlands and holds a bachelor degree in Marine Engineering and a University of Twente master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering - Material Science.

Konstantinos Malandrinos joined FBCA as Senior Policy Director European Affairs in October 2025.

With a background in EU Policy making and Governance, he brings over 13 years of Brussels-based experience in EU regulatory affairs on circular economy, sustainability, waste management, eco-design and bioeconomy.

Konstantinos will oversee the FBCA Regulatory and Public Affairs Strategy for Europe (EU and non-EU) and advocate for the FBCA members’ interests through direct engagement with policymakers and regulators at EU and national level.

His previous work includes Brussels based consultancies, the Council of the EU, trade associations (Municipal Waste Europe, European Aluminium, and Metal Packaging Europe) as well as big multinationals (Philip Morris International, Tetra Pak).

Konstantinos is a Greek national and holds an MSc in EU Policy making and Governance in the EU from the London School of Economics, UK.

Alison has in-depth experience in communications, policy, and advocacy, gained through her work with global membership-based organizations such as the International Science Council, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, and the Red Cross. Her prior experience includes developing and executing communication strategies to advocate for science-based policymaking aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at multilateral and intergovernmental levels, notably with the United Nations and UNESCO.

Originally from Perth, Western Australia, she has post-graduate qualifications in Public Policy and International Law from the American University of Paris, Climate Change Management from the University of Edinburgh and holds degrees in journalism, education and the arts. 

Andrew has extensive global corporate communications, public affairs and investor relations experience. Before taking up his duties of managing FBCA’s communications, he worked in the London and Boston offices of W2O Group, an integrated marketing and communications agency. Prior to that, Andrew managed the public relations, investor relations and public affairs for Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals) in Washington, D.C. Andrew began his junior career working at the EUobserver and the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, both in Brussels.

Andrew is Belgian - American, who received his MA in European Public Policy from The University of Kent, The Brussels School of International Studies and his BA in International Affairs / French from West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

Susan is responsible for the overall management of the office. In this role she provides administrative support to all staff and supports the Executive Director Global Advocacy to ensure all organisational and governance aspects of FBCA operate efficiently. Her responsibilities include financial coordination, office management, events organisation, and assistance in the preparation of reports and materials.

Before joining FBCA, Susan has acquired experience and expertise in several projects from the European Parliament (Parlamentarium, House of European History, Station Europe, and Atrium). This has given her opportunities to strengthen her organisational and operational skills and work in multi-cultural environments. Susan is a Peruvian-Belgian national and holds a degree in office management.

François’s expertise is based on a 22-year experience of advanced international sales and technology development in the paper and board industry, supplying solutions in chemicals from CIBA/BASF, and later in recycling process equipment from KADANT.  Industry and technology drove his line of work in Europe and out of Europe.

Born in Strasbourg, François obtained a master’s degree at the Graduate School of Engineering in Paper, Print Media and Biomaterials, Grenoble INP-PAGORA.

Kristian has 20+ years of experience in communications and public affairs. Former head of communications and public affairs for If Insurance and editorial writer for Svenska Dagbladet. Author of six books on various policy topics.

He holds degrees in political science and philosophy from Lund University and a master’s degree in literature from Stockholm University.

Vasilis specializes in EU policy, developing a keen interest for EU environmental and energy policy. Prior to joining FBCA's legacy organization ACE, Vasilis worked as an APA Trainee for a Member of the European Parliament, supporting the day-today agenda on EU environmental policy, energy, critical raw materials and AI.

Vasilis is a Greek national comes from a Political Science background. He received his MA in EU External Relations from The University of Kent, The Brussels School of International Studies and his BA in Political Science and International Relations from the University of the Peloponnese

Emilio is a graduate in Law with 20 years of experience in public affairs. He began his career in Brussels, working at a lobbying firm specialized in the food, energy, transportation, and construction product sectors. There he remained for a decade developing lobbying campaigns and corporate marketing aimed at advocating for the interests of companies and associations before European institutions.

After a brief period in Latin America as an independent consultant, he joined the Spanish Association of Paper and Cardboard Manufacturers (ASPAPEL) in 2014, where he led the Spanish Keep Me Posted project, focused on advocating for postal communications through a strategic alliance with consumer associations. At the same time, he serves as the Spanish Country Manager for the EU PrintPower project, promoting the sustainability of paper products and the effectiveness of advertising campaigns in print media.

More recently, he was appointed Director of Innovation for the Spanish Paper Industry, also taking on the coordination of corporate communication in ASPAPEL.

Emilio is fluent in English, French, and Italian.

Malene Bøgedal Kylling is a public affairs and communications professional. Her core competences are building relations with stakeholders and analyzing, including stakeholder mapping, media reporting and market analysis.

Malene holds a Master’s Degree in Intercultural Market Studies from the University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen Business School.

John is a senior advisor within public affairs, corporate communications and PR. He has many years of experience supporting companies that operate in highly regulated industries. Before that he worked for more than a decade as a business reporter and editor at tier 1 medias. He is a specialist in monitoring, analysis and reporting.

John holds a Master of Science in Management Accounting & Controlling from Aarhus School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts from The Danish School of Media and Journalism.  

Lucija represents FBCA in Slovenia. She is a communication and stakeholder relations consultant with a specific focus on sustainable and circular programs and projects. Lucija’s experience comes from the waste management and beverage cartons industry, giving her a good understanding of the industry’s policy and legislative aspects. She is member of several national and international networks promoting sustainable development and circularity through education, awareness raising, and stakeholder engagement.

Tomáš represents FBCA and the beverage cartons industry in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He is a respected consultant with main experience in the FMCG and ICT industries.