With over three decades at Bridgestone Americas, Bill has extensive experience in both the technical and commercial aspects of the global tire business. Currently serving as the Executive Director of Sustainable Innovation & Circular Economy, Bill plays a pivotal role in shaping and executing the company's sustainable materials strategy, focusing on sustainable content, carbon intensity, certifications, and customer value … toward a fully circular and carbon-zero future in mobility.
Shannon Higgins is Cabot Corporation’s North America Marketing and Account Manager for its Reinforcement Materials business. Shannon joined Cabot in 2014 and has served in a variety of commercial and marketing roles. She currently works with customers in the tire industry with a focus on improving product performance and sustainability to meet today’s market demands. She received her MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University and has an undergrad degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Bucknell University.
Paul Ita runs Notch Consulting, a Massachusetts-based research company dedicated to the market research needs of the global specialty chemicals industry. Mr. Ita focuses on raw materials for the global tire and rubber industries, with a particular focus on carbon black, silica, and rubber chemicals. Through Notch, he publishes the Carbon Black World Data Book and the Carbon Black Quarterly Newsletter.
Bio to come!
Martin von Wolfersdorff is a freelance advisor and business partner of Smithers specialising in sustainable carbon blacks. Martin works with Smithers on carbon black consulting projects, writes Smithers reports and is the founder and business partner of the recovered Carbon Black Conference. Martin's corporate assignments were in carbon black, plastic packaging, plastic masterbatch and titanium dioxide. Martin has a Dipl. Ing. (Univ.) degree in chemical engineering from the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany.
Tony leads Bolder Industries with a great passion for protecting our environment, creating innovative products, and enhancing the lives of our employees. He founded Bolder Industries in 2011 after seeing inefficiencies in the recycling industry while operating three landfills in Central Florida. Drawing on his past experiences in the innovative field of medical devices, Tony looked for new and better ways to handle waste streams.
Tony graduated from Ball State University with a degree in Industrial Manufacturing Technology. He has led Bolder Industries to numerous business awards, including Environmental Leader’s “Top Product of the Year” for BolderBlack® and “Breakout Company of the Year” from the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association. Outside of the office, Tony loves to ski, mountain bike, and cheer for Bronco’s football. Leveraging his past experiences in the field of medical devices and the recycling industry, Mr. Wibbeler founded Bolder Industries in 2011 to develop innovative, closed-loop solutions to reduce and recycle various waste streams starting with waste tires. He has led Bolder Industries to numerous business and innovation awards, including Environmental Leader’s “Top Product of the Year,” “Breakout Company of the Year,” from the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association, and “Energy Manufacturer of the Year” from the Colorado Manufacturing Awards.
Biswajit is having 31+ years of experience and since 2023 onwards he is heading technical of Shine Carbon& Chemicals as Chief Technical Office and prior to that from 2017, he was leading the Research & Development activities as General Manager along with Global Technical Services for Himadri SPECIALITY Carbon Black Company (HSCL). Before joining to Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd., he was associated with Aditya Birla Group's BIRLA CARBON - the World's Largest Carbon Black Group for 16 years (2001-2017) in their overseas locations for Technical Services, Product Technology, etc. as Senior Manager (Global Product and Technical Services). However, before taking up this overseas role in Aditya Birla Group, he was equipped himself for 9 years (1992-2001) in Raw Material Evaluation & Compound Development areas by working at JK Tyres' R&D Centre (HASETRI). He gained vast practical experiences by auditing more than 100 tire raw materials suppliers also both in India & abroad. He is a Six Sigma Black Belt holder also. Besides, he did his Master of Technology in Polymer Science & Rubber Technology from the University of Calcutta in 1992.
Ian Byberg is a Sales Engineer for Arduro, where he helps customers implement sustainable solutions by leveraging Arduro’s recycling technology. Ian completed his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University and spent four years in product and process development focused on vinyl upholstery. Responsible for bringing products from ideation to market launch, he worked directly with customers to provide solutions focused products. Wanting to contribute to a more sustainable and circular future, he joined Arduro in 2022 as a Process Engineer where he developed a deep knowledge of the technology and its capabilities. In his new role, Ian now focuses on educating the industry on Arduro's unique approach to rubber recycling, the benefits this has for the industry, and the impact Arduro’s solutions can have on partnering businesses.
Shane Perl is managing director of Alpen Group LLC, a firm specialising in management consulting on carbon black feedstocks, pyrolysis oils and specialty chemicals, as well as in the sourcing, sales, distribution, trading and brokering of carbon black feedstock oils. Shane Perl has a BSc in chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA in Marketing from University of Detroit and Rutgers University. Before founding Alpen Group, Shane worked 15 years with BASF in capital projects and procurement and 5 years as Director Strategic Sourcing with the carbon black producer Cabot.
Mr. Tim Bart is principal of Carbon Management International, a consulting firm established in 1999. Mr. Bart co-publishes the monthly CBO Monitor with Mr. Vince Guercio reporting on carbon black feedstock and the carbon black industry. Prior to 2017, Carbon Management was involved in global coal tar and coal tar distillation, consulting and sourcing distillation products for related downstream industries. Mr. Bart serves as president of the International Tar Association, an industry association comprised of coal tar distillation and related companies. Mr. Bart received degrees in Environmental Science, Masters of Business Administration, Masters of Communications and Masters of International Relations from Rutgers University, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Seton Hall University.
Tayler Perrey is a seasoned Ceramic Engineer with a robust educational background and extensive professional experience in the industry. He graduated with a B.S. in Ceramic Engineering from Missouri Science and Technology, followed by a M.S. in the same field from Alfred University.
For seven years, Tayler honed his skills at Honeywell NSC, where he contributed to numerous projects and advanced his expertise. Since 2018, he has been with Zircoa Inc, serving as a Sr. Application and Development Engineer. In his current role, he focuses on new composition development, failure analysis, and customer application enhancements. Tayler is also the subject matter expert on zirconia refractories for carbon black reactors, bringing innovative solutions and improvements to this specialized area.
