Speakers & Chairs

We are pleased to announce the following confirmed speakers and more speakers will be added shortly.

Dr Eimear Cotter

Director General, Environmental Protection Agency

Martina Hennessy

Assistant Secretary Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency, DCEE

Dr Janez Potočnik

Co-chair UNEP International Resource Panel 

Cillian Lohan

President of the EESC Civil Society Organisations’ Group

Zoe Kavanagh

Repak CEO

Ross O’Colmain

Head of Sustainability Solutions and Business Expansion, Enterprise Ireland

Neil Dunning

CEO and Owner, The ZipYard

Caitríona Collins

Senior Inspector, Environmental Protection Agency

Lars Fogh Mortensen

Expert on Circular Economy, Production and Consumption, European Environment Agency

Setting the Scene

Minister Alan Dillon

Minister of State at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment with special responsibility for the Circular Economy

Laura Burke

Director General, Environmental Protection Agency

Martina Hennessy

Assistant Secretary, Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency, Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment

Heidi Redmond

Heidi Redmond, Department for the Economy Northern Ireland

Joseph Cummins

Head of Climate Action and Energy Policy Unit, DETE

Owen Keogh

Head of Sustainability, An Post

Producer Responsibility in Priority Sectors

Dr Katharina Schlegel Thummer

Council Director, Circularity and End-of-Life Plastics Europe

David Fitzsimons

Director, European Remanufacturing Council

Elizabeth O’Reilly

Head of Environmental Compliance, WEEE Ireland

Rebecca Wilson

Director of Research, Policy, and Education, Rediscovery Centre

Markets & Consumption

Dr Florian Flachenecker

Taskforce Leader on the Circular Economy Act, DG ENV

Lynne Walker

Director of Primark Cares

Dr Orla Kelly

Associate Professor in Social Policy, University College Dublin

Seán McCabe

Head of Climate Justice & Sustainability, Bohemian FC

Chairs

David Flynn

Director, Office of Environmental Sustainability, EPA

Warren Phelan

Programme Manager, Circular Economy Programme, EPA

Dr Geraldine Brennan

Director of Circular Economy Innovation, Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR)

Chairs

David Flynn

Director, Office of Environmental Sustainability, EPA

Last updated: October 9, 2026