Tissue World Düsseldorf has officially announced its conference line-up with talks and panel discussions from colleagues at Sofidel, Metsä Tissue, Essity, Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH), and LC Paper, as well as technical sessions from Valmet, Andritz, Toscotec, Futura, Gambini, BW Converting – and many more!
With a theme of Future-Proofing the Tissue Industry for Sustainable Growth, this year’s conference topics range from strategic risks, international conflicts, trade corridors, pulp’s supply chain, the energy transition and the decarbonisation of tissue plants, advanced digital solutions, and hot embossing.
Key talks in the Senior Management Symposium (SMS) across 8 and 9 April include:
- Keynote speaker, Luigi Lazzareschi, Chief Executive of the Sofidel Group, who will kick off the event on 8 April
- Antonia Colibasanu, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Research Institute’s talk – The New Geoeconomic Order? Strategic Risks and Opportunities in 2025 – will explore the shifting landscape of global trade and investment in response to post-Covid disruptions, international conflicts in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, examining how major trade corridors have been impacted by events
- Presentation by Esa Kaikkonen, Chief Executive of Metsä Tissue, Metsa Group
- Panel discussion: Lazzareschi, Colibasanu and Metsä Tissue’s Chief Executive Esa Kaikkonen.
- Iurii Golovchenko, Chief Executive of Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill (KCPM), will showcase the company’s experience in executing key investment projects to modernise equipment over the past few years
- Maja Mejsner, Director, Paper Process Part Technology, Valmet, will give a talk entitled “Wild Goals and Bold Actions: Empowering Leaders and Building Bridges Between Generations in the Tissue Industry”
- Panel discussion: Sofidel America’s Talent Acquisition Manager Rita Belov and Valmet’s Mejsner
- Ali Jalal, Chief Procurement Officer, Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH), will discuss managing pulp supply chain risk through strategic sourcing
- Presentation by Donato Giorgio, President, Global Supply Chain, Essity
- Presentation by Robert Dackeskog, President and Chief Executive, Duni Group
- Natalia Bezrebra, Senior Research Analyst, Euromonitor International: Retail Tissue – Global Trends and Future Prospects
- Jarmo Ropponen, Head of Asia-Pacific, Head of Tissue and Chief Executive, Tietoevry: Navigating Digital Transformation: Unlocking Value Through Emerging Technologies and AI
- Peter Bekaert, Managing Director, Modellfabrik Papier: Decarbonisation of Paper Plants – Economic Pathways to Decarbonise the Paper Industry
- Panel discussion: Mikael Selling, Chief Executive and Partner, Opticom International Research, Christina Wennberg, Marketing Manager, Södra Cell, Natalia Bezrebra, Senior Research Analyst, Euromonitor International, Laure Miribel, Deputy Chief executive, MP Hygiene
- Panel discussion: Modellfabrik Papier’s Managing Director Peter Bekaert, Metsä Tissue’s VP of Innovation, Head of R&D and Global Alexander Deutschle, AFRY Management Consulting’s Senior Principal Arne Kant, European Tissue Symposium’s (ETS) Director General Carlos Reinoso, and Tietoevry’s Ropponen.
The technical sessions will hear from peers including:
- Pau Vila, Chief Executive, LC Paper: The path to net-zero tissue products
- Jenny Lahti Samuelsson, Vice President, Global Tissue Sales, Valmet, who will discuss strategic combinations to optimise tissue drying sections
- Presentation by Futura Converting – topic and speaker to be named
- Luca Linari, Managing Director, Andritz Novimpianti, will discuss the “Energy transition: ANDRITZ path to progressive decarbonisation”
- Stefano Pecchia, Energy Technology Director, Toscotec, and Gabriele Romanini, Sales Manager, Toscotec Tissue Division, will discuss decarbonisation in the paper industry
- Riccardo Cattani, Sales Manager, A.Celli, will give a talk on how SMARNIP-T shoepress technology can improve tissue production
- Panel discussion: Current issues and future developments: Toscotec’s Pecchia, Toscotec Tissue Division’s Romanini, Valmet’s Lahti Samuelsson, and Andritz Novimpianti’s Linari
- Carlos Reinoso, Director General, ETS, will discuss how the EU’s rules are shaping our future and are a “wake-up call” for the tissue industry
- Stefano Spinelli, Director, Product Lifecycle Management, BW Converting: Streamlining tissue production – “PCMC’s Advanced Digital Solution That Saves Time and Money”
- Dario Giannini, Embossing Product Innovation & Pilot Line Manager, Valmet Converting: “Hot embossing takes a step forward with Warm-up Next system.”
New and exclusive! Unlocking the future – pilot plants and the tissue revolution
The third day of the conference will also introduce a new section to Tissue World’s conferences.
Unlocking the Future: Pilot Plants & The Tissue Revolution will be an interactive and insightful session that puts the spotlight on pilot plants, cutting-edge technologies, and the innovative products they bring to life.
This dynamic new session will showcase companies at the forefront of research and development, offering a unique opportunity to explore, feel and touch the latest advancements in materials, fibres, additives, and production techniques.
Key topics include:
• Emerging industry trends: Where will we be in five years?
• The impact of different fibres, technologies, and ingredients on product performance.
• The role of additives in achieving sustainability and functionality.
• How tissue products are evolving—what’s changing, and why?
Participating pilot plants will include presentations from Valmet, Andritz, Toscotec and Gambini.
Representative speakers and pilot plants will be announced shortly.
Informa Connect’s Tissue World event series is the world’s leading knowledge-hub for the global T&T business, consisting annually of exhibitions and conferences across all continents, six trade magazines, and bi-weekly newsletters that keep you up-to-date with the very latest knowledge of our fast-changing industry.
Facing unrivalled global industry challenges including an unprecedented global energy crisis, logistical turbulence, pulp volatility, fluctuating demand, curtailments in production or overcapacity, the need to anticipate trends and keep abreast of peer groups’ growth strategies, staying ahead of the competition… tissue’s challenges have never been greater, and industry insight has never been more at a premium.
Tissue World and Tissue World Magazine (TWM) remain the world’s key meeting point and source of market intelligence to help businesses across the supply chain navigate the challenges and opportunities as markets respond and plan to grow.
The European edition of our events will be held at the Messe Düsseldorf between 8 – 10 April 2025.
In the run up to the event, read the very latest from your competitors, peers and delegates to gain unrivalled access to critical analysis, insider business planning, and technical advances:
- January/February (digital) issue of TWM: a special edition on the Germany tissue market, and a Technical Theme on the packaging machinery sector
- March/April (print & digital) issue of TWM: a special edition on the Italian tissue market, the unique global Projects Survey that lists all new and current tissue capacity being added during 2025 and expected to come onstream in 2026, and a Technical Theme covering paper machinery suppliers.
For more information on the exhibition go to:
https://www.tissueworld.com/dusseldorf/en/whats-on/agenda.html#/seminars
To read TWM’s 2025 editorial calendar go to:
https://www.tissueworldmagazine.com/media-kit/twm-editorial-calendar-20162017/
