Change in TEGEWA Management

Frankfurt, July 2023

The TEGEWA office in Frankfurt is headed by Mr Ralf Kattanek by 1 July 2023.

Dr Alex Föller, who has been General Secretary since 2001, is thus handing over to an industry expert who – once active in the Association as a representative of a member company himself – is very familiar with both the Association’s workflows and the needs and necessities of companies in the chemical industry.

When Dr Föller took over the management of the association in 2001, it coincided with the publication of the White Paper “Strategy for a Future Chemicals Policy” – the birth of today’s European chemicals legislation REACH.

Advocating for science-based and viable legislation thus became one of the main tasks of the new TEGEWA Managing Director.

In a way, handing over to his successor at a time when the current REACH text is being revised closes the circle:

Ralf Kattanek looks back on many years of experience in the textile industry. He started his career in fine chemicals and then in the textile dye division of BASF AG. When this division was sold, he joined DyStar to lead the textile business in the EMEA region. Mr Kattanek gained international experience as Managing Director for DyStar in Turkey and for CHT in Switzerland. Most recently, he served as CSO (Chief Sustainability Officer) for the CHT Group, having spent many years building and leading the global textile chemicals business.

For many years, Mr Kattanek supported TEGEWA’s activities both in the Working Group Textile Auxiliaries and Dyes and on the TEGEWA Board of Directors and played a key significant role in their further development. As a result, he got to know the processes and the team very well.

“I am looking forward to the new task, which offers great challenges with, among other things, the further development of the Strategy, internationalisation and the implementation of the European Union’s Green Deal. I can rely on a very experienced team with a high level of expertise. Furthermore, I am very pleased that Dr Alex Föller will continue to support the association for a while yet with his many years of know-how, e.g., on technical issues in the field of surfactants.”

TEGEWA association is a trade association of the German chemical industry. It represents the interests of currently 104 member companies that produce chemicals for industrial use. These include, for example, products for the manufacture of paper, textiles or leather goods, but also raw materials for the cosmetics and detergent industry.