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TEGEWA-KosRo Position Paper on Extended Producer Responsibility of EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive

In the context of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) provided for in Article 9, 10 and Annex III of the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD), TEGEWA represents industrial companies that manufacture cosmetic raw materials and which – even if these substance manufacturers are not themselves subject to EPR – may be affected by the classification of substances as potential micropollutants in cosmetic products: This is because, once EPR is implemented into national law, the continued use of substances classified as micropollutants in cosmetic products to be placed on the market will trigger an EPR payment obligation on the part of the relevant product manufacturers or importers of cosmetic (end) products.

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TEGEWA General Assembly and Board Elections 2026-2028

On 19 June 2026, the association’s most recent General Assembly took place in Bremen, and was entirely dedicated to the association’s 75th anniversary. Whilst this was duly celebrated during the evening event on Thursday, the following day saw, as scheduled, the election of the Executive Board for the 2026–2028 term, as well as the Treasurer and the Auditors.

The composition of the Executive Board is therefore as follows:

Mark Dohmen, Archroma, who has held this office since 2024, was re-elected as Chairman of the TEGEWA Executive Board. Birgit Holz, CHT, and Wolfgang Goertz, Evonik, serve as Deputy Chairpersons. The association’s new Treasurer is Holger Bender, Pulcra.

The other members of the Executive Board are:
Hermann Bach, Clariant
Felix Grimm, Zschimmer & Schwarz
Joachim I. Henkmann, Stahl
Florian Krückl, Kolb
Kristina Platkowski, Schill + Seilacher
Dirk Schär, Sasol
Romy Veit, BASF
Bianca Verstegen, TFL

The following were confirmed as auditors:
Michael Fleig, Sinarmas CEPSA
Friedrich Petry, Textilchemie Dr Petry

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Onepager “Enzymes in the textile industry”

TEGEWA and amfep, the European association of manufacturers and formulators of enzyme products, complement their guidelines for the safe handling of enzymes in the textile industry (developed in 2022) with the Onepager you will find here: (more…)

Withdrawal of the Proposed Restriction on 1,4-Dioxane in Surfactants

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has announced that Germany has withdrawn its originally planned restriction proposal for 1,4-dioxane in surfactants. This decision is based on new findings regarding the pathways through which the substance enters the environment, which were uncovered during regulatory investigations.

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Statement by TEGEWA & VCI in Connection with BAT* – Textile Industry

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) presented a draft regulation at the beginning of 2025 to implement the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and the BAT conclusions for textiles into German law. The somewhat cumbersome title of the draft is: “Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift zur Umsetzung des Durchführungsbeschlusses (EU) 2022/2508 über Schlussfolgerungen zu den besten verfügbaren Techniken in Bezug auf die Textilindustrie.” The revised draft was sent to the relevant associations for comment as part of the consultation process under § 51 of the Federal Immissionsschutzgesetz (BImSchG).

This administrative regulation aims to transpose the requirements of the 2022 BAT conclusions for textiles and the revised IED Directive into national law. It includes extensive provisions on emission limit values, technical measures, and monitoring obligations. The impact on the textile industry is therefore enormous.

*BAT = Best Available Techniques

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Election of TEGEWA Board 2024-2026

On June 7th, 2024, the association’s general meeting took place in Aachen. In addition to intensive exchange and fruitful discussions within the specialist groups and during the general meeting itself, the regular election of the board for 2024 – 2026, as well as the treasurer and auditors, was on the agenda.

The composition of the board is as follows:

The new chairman of the association is Mark Dohmen, Archroma. The deputy chairpersons are Birgit Holz, CHT, and Soeren Hildebrandt, BASF. The treasurer of the association is Ben Jones, Sasol.

The other board members:

Holger Bender, Pulcra
Karl-Ludwig Gibis, Clariant (since March 2025, Hermann Bach is representing Clariant on the board)
Wolfgang Goertz, Evonik
Felix Grimm, Zschimmer & Schwarz
Joachim Henkmann, Stahl
Florian Krückl, Kolb
Kristina Platkowski, Schill + Seilacher
Dietrich Tegtmeyer, TFL (since October 2024, Bianca Verstegen is representing TFL on the board)

As auditors were confirmed:

Michael Fleig, Sinarmas CEPSA
Friedrich Petry, Dr. Petry Textilchemie

 

© Katrin Heyer

from left to right: Florian Krückl, Karl-Ludwig Gibis, Wolfgang Goertz, Birgit Holz, Ralf Kattanek (Managing Director TEGEWA), Ben Jones, Holger Bender, Soeren Hildebrandt, Felix Grimm, Dietrich Tegtmeyer, Mark Dohmen, Joachim Henkmann (Missing: Kristina Platkowski)

TEGEWA for open-mindedness and tolerance

The association TEGEWA operates with member companies in Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, among other countries. It maintains close and friendly connections with associations, institutions, and colleagues across Europe and even globally. The association is an industry organization that doesn’t just preach tolerance and openness but has been living these values for decades. Our committee members have roots in Europe, Africa, America, or the Asian continent. What matters is their expertise, the excellent personal exchange, collegial interaction, and mutual trust.

Despite valid criticism of individual European (chemical) legislation and legislative processes, we appreciate the European Union and the removal of trade barriers, free trade, and the security that common EU legislation provides. We recognize the challenges that the United Kingdom faces after Brexit and consider a “Dexit” not only as an alternative but also as the greatest imaginable harm to Germany.

And despite (economic and political) criticism of current German legislation, we are grateful for the democratic system in which we live. We appreciate living in a country whose government, out of necessity, seeks solutions to migration issues while being aware that we urgently need foreign skilled workers to address demographic and industrial challenges today and tomorrow. Large parts of the industrial sectors we represent are significantly affected by the shortage of skilled workers.

The association aligns with the statements of numerous business associations that view a Europe- and foreigner-hostile party as destructive. Both economically and socially, we reject such “alternatives” for Germany – even though we consider ourselves independent and impartial, a stance we’ve maintained since our founding in 1951. 

We would like to point out in this context the tenth European election, which will take place on June 9, 2024, and whose results will also have an impact on our country: every vote for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law counts!

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.

First General Assembly of new European Association EUCTL

(Frankfurt, 16-11-2021)

On February 10th, 2021, the first General Assembly of the European Association EUCTL (European Chemistry for Textile and Leather) was held – due to the pandemic situation in form of a virtual conference. EUCTL had been founded in 2020 by TEGEWA and the Italian Chemical Industry Association Federchimica and shall help to achieve better – and earlier – involvement in European legislation processes.

This first General Assembly also comprised the election of Board and Chair Persons. Due to restructuring processes in the membership, the board was forced to make use of its right on cooptation and to determine Dr. Wolfgang Schumann, Rudolf, as successor to the first elected president, Ralf Kattanek. Dr. Filippo Pampagnin, Bozzetto, holds the position as Vice President. Further Board members are :

Roberto Ghioldi,  E.R.C.A. S.P.A.
Dr. Giuseppe Li Bassi,  Lamberti S.P.A.
Dr. Benoit Moutault, CHT Germany GmbH
Marc Smit,  Smit & Zoon B.V.

 

The European Commission’s Chemicals Strategy even outshines REACH

Frankfurt, October 15, 2020

On October 14^th, the EU Commission published its “Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability Towards a Toxic-Free Environment”. This strategy – which is meant to be implemented within the next four years, according to the Commission’s intentions – is posing extremely ambitious challenges to chemical industry. Whereas the strategy seems to be at least unrealistic in view of the temporal context, the content-related requirements are even more than ambitious. The member companies of TEGEWA and the management staff of the association itself consider the challenges as bigger than those of the European Chemicals legislation REACH, which came into force in 2007.

The protection of both the environment and human health is a self-evident goal of the association TEGEWA and its member companies. REACH, which is being implemented with all our strength right from the start, is offering all kind of possibilities to identify and regulate harmful or “problematic” substances. How far a „chemicals strategy for sustainability“ with focus on „a toxic-free environment“ can offer a certain added value, is not visible to the association TEGEWA at this point of time.

In close cooperation with the umbrella organisation VCI, the European associations as well as the respective industrial customer’s associations, TEGEWA will accompany the strategy process on all levels and raise the voice of its member companies.