Thomas Mueller-Kirschbaum

Thomas Mueller-Kirschbaum is an independent member of advisory boards for industry and science and expert for sustainability and innovation with a focus on circular economy and climate protection. He is Chief Scientist of the Circular Valley Foundation. In this role he supports the startups joining the Circular Economy Accelerator of the Circular Valley. He supports the concept of a Sustainable Circularity Indicator which can work as a differentiating label for all kinds of products and guide consumer preference. He is a member of the advisory committee of the Fraunhofer Competence Cluster of Circular Plastics Economy, the advisory board for Circular Economy at the German Institute for Standardization and the expert group for Circular Value Creation within the multinational EUREKA governmental initiative. From 2018 to 2021 he co-led the plastic packaging working group of the German Circular Economy Initiative and developed a scenario for an economically viable closed loop plastic packaging recycling. He studied physics and chemistry and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cologne. Until his retirement from Henkel at the end of 2020, he was responsible for the global R&D and co-chair of Henkel’s Sustainability Council for more than two decades, defining and monitoring the sustainability strategy of the company.