On 1 January 2022, Managing Director Thomas Braun (60) celebrated 30 years of service at bvse-Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung e.V. (Federal Association for Secondary Raw Materials and Waste Management).
Executive Director Eric Rehbock congratulated Thomas Braun and thanked him for his commitment to the interests of the association's members with heart and soul and a clear line. Well-connected, loyal, obliging and with great diplomatic skills, he made a decisive contribution to the success of the Association. Together with the Executive Committee, he is looking forward to further years and joint successes together at the bvse.
Thomas Braun, who studied business administration, had his first contact with the recycling industry in 1991 at the Vfw - Vereinigung für Wertstoffrecycling GmbH (Association for the Recycling of Recyclable Materials) in Cologne and moved to the bvp - Bundesverband Papierrohstoffe e.V. (Federal Association for Paper Raw Materials), Cologne, the predecessor of today's bvse e.V., as a consultant at the beginning of 1992. Here he became Deputy Managing Director in 1996 and then Managing Director in 2001.
Early on, Braun represented the interests of bvse members beyond national borders. He was General Delegate of the Paper Division in the international recycling umbrella organisation BIR - Bureau of International Recycling in Brussels for about 15 years and still represents the bvse there, among other things, in its International Environmental Council. Thomas Braun brought his particular passion for recovered paper to bear for the benefit of our industry over four years as Vice President of ERPA, the European Recovered Paper Association in Brussels. Since 2015, he has been a board member of the European recycling umbrella organisation EuRIC - European Recycling Industries Confederation aisbl, whose member associations elected him as their Vice President in 2019.