Pascal Leroy
Pascal Leroy has been the Director General of the WEEE Forum since 2007, where he oversees the association’s general management. With over twenty years of experience in e-waste programmes and policies, Pascal has significantly contributed to the field of electronic waste management.
He previously worked at APPLiA, the European Parliament, and Hill and Knowlton. Pascal led the WEEE Forum’s WEEELABEX project, creating the first harmonised e-waste standards. He has also represented the WEEE Forum in multiple EU grant-funded projects researching EPR, circularity, Digital Product Passports, availability of secondary raw materials, the urban mine, and critical raw materials.
Bernd Kopacek
Bernd has been the Managing Director of the Austrian Society for Systems Engineering and Automation in Vienna since 1997. He also runs companies in Austria and Romania specialising in electronics recycling and re-use of IT equipment…
As an international consultant for the International Finance Corporation, he has set up WEEE solutions in Southeast Europe, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Bernd teaches “Resource Efficiency” and “End-of-Life Management” at Vienna University of Technology and has founded several successful spin-off companies. Bernd holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Management, and a PhD from Vienna University of Technology.
Claire Agraffeil
Claire Agraffeil holds a PhD in material science and process engineering dedicated to microelectronic applications. She has worked at CEA as a researcher and project manager for seven years.
In 2017, she joined the Department of Solar Technology (CEA-INES) as a project designer and manager, focusing on photovoltaic sustainability, waste management and circularity development. Claire is involved in working groups such as the International Energy Agency – Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme Task12 and collaborates with ADEME (French Energy Agency) to develop and support solutions for PV sustainability.
Claire Agraffeil is also the project coordinator for PHOTORAMA, where she oversees the state of PV recycling in Europe.
Jiří Orava
Dr. Jiří Orava is an Associate Professor in the Physics of Condensed Matter and the Head of the Department of Environmental Chemistry and Technology at the Faculty of Environment, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem (UJEP).
He holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science, Chemistry and Technology of Materials from the University of Pardubice, where his research focused on chalcogenides for micro- and nano-optic devices. After finishing his PhD, Orava worked at the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy, University of Cambridge (UK), Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University (Japan), and Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Germany) between 2009-2021. Dr. Orava’s expertise lies in developing and characterising materials for environmental, sensing, and energy applications. He leads the Advanced Functional Materials Group at UJEP. He is also the author and guarantor of an interdisciplinary doctoral study program “Environmental and Biomaterial Sciences” and a member of the INERRANT Horizon Europe project, where UJEP is leading two main activities, i.e., the development of multifunctional separators based on electro-and hybrid-spinning technology for safer LIBs and the recovery of critical raw materials from LIBs. His work has been widely published, with significant contributions in fast scanning calorimetry, semiconducting glasses design, metallic glasses, and recently in electrospinning of energy materials.
Michal Šyc
Dr. Michal Šyc is the Director and Senior Scientist at the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the Czech Academy of Sciences, where he also leads the Research Group of Waste Management and Sustainable Technologies.
With a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Dr. Šyc has expertise in waste management, circular economy and environmental security. He is the Principal Investigator of the Centre of Environmental Research project, funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, which focuses on transitioning the Czech Republic to a circular economic model. Dr. Šyc’s work involves innovative technologies aimed at reducing the use of primary raw materials, while maximising material recovery and addressing environmental contamination. His contributions to the field are well-documented through numerous publications and his active participation in interdisciplinary research initiatives.
