New Director of Public Affairs at PlasticsEurope says association has “crucial role”

Brussels-based trade association, PlasticsEurope, has appointed Leonor Garcia as its new Director of Public Affairs.

Garcia, who will commence the role as of September 1, 2015, is currently Director of Corporate Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at The Coca-Cola Company, where she is responsible for several strategies and initiatives, including food packaging safety.

“We are delighted to be able to appoint someone of Leonor’s stature, experience and ability to this important role,” commented 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.”

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).

Commenting on her new role, Garcia said: “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."

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), whose 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 and Process Development to Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs.