Stuttgart, 05.12.2023 – It was his last official appearance. At the regular general meeting of the Foamed Plastics and Polyurethanes Association (FSK), outgoing Chairman of the Board Albrecht Manderscheid welcomed the members. After 27 years as Chairman of the FSK Board, Albrecht Manderscheid thanked all his colleagues who had accompanied him during this time. “These 27 years, with everything that has happened during this time, cannot be summarized in 10 minutes,” he continued. But the examples he gave, from the work of the various working groups to the many events and the training platform for the REACH restriction procedure for handling diisocyanates, gave an idea of what the FSK has achieved with him as a driving force during his time in office.

In recognition of Albrecht Manderscheid’s importance not only for the association, but for the entire polyurethane industry, it was none other than Dr Markus Steilemann, CEO of Covestro AG and President of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), who gave the laudatory speech for Albrecht Manderscheid. “It is a great honor for me to be able to honor Albrecht Manderscheid today for his life’s work,” he said in his opening remarks. “Anyone who knows him knows that he is a man of great integrity, subtlety and respect, who has presided over the FSK in a professional, competent and committed manner over the years.” But Albrecht Manderscheid has not only steered the fortunes of the FSK. He worked for the world-renowned Cannon Group for decades, from 1991 to 2021, i.e. 30 years as Managing Director of Cannon Deutschland GmbH. Listing the highlights of Albrecht Manderscheid’s association activities would go beyond the scope of this article, but here are a few keywords: In 1994, he initiated the founding of the “Polyurethane Molded Parts” specialist group and in 1998 he launched the FSK Innovation Award. He also made his influence felt in politics, for example at a personal meeting with Angela Merkel, who was still the leader of the CDU opposition at the time.

“Albrecht Manderscheid was a special, outstanding and worthy chairman of the FSK for over 27 years. Now he is leaving his position at the zenith of his career. The award of the FSK Medal of Honor is therefore well deserved. We are all deeply indebted to you,” were the concluding words of Dr Markus Steilemann.

From left to right: Albrecht Manderscheid receives the FSK Medal of Honour from laudator Dr Markus Steilemann for his 27 years of work as FSK Chairman of the Board (Source: FSK)

Following a unanimous vote, Albrecht Manderscheid was succeeded as Chairman of the Board by Jörg Arntzen (Dow Produktions- und Vertriebs- GmbH & Co. OHG). Benedikt Broil (Covestro Deutschland AG) was elected as his deputy. Manfred Werner (Sekisui Alveo GmbH) continues to act as Chief Financial Officer. Dr Ulrich Fehrenbacher (Rühl Puromer GmbH), Christian Loretz (Getzner Werkstoffe GmbH) and Jörg Teschner (Klöckner polyPUR Chemie GmbH) were also confirmed in their positions as assessors. The honorary board team is complemented by the newly added assessor Dr Eva Emmrich-Smolczyk (Evonik Operations GmbH).

From left to right: Benedikt Broil, Manfred Werner, Jörg Teschner, Jörg Arntzen, Dr Ulrich Fehrenbacher, Dr Eva Emmrich-Smolczyk, Christian Loretz.

Further information on the Fachverband Schaumkunststoffe und Polyurethane e.V. (FSK) and its events, as well as on the work of the expert committees, is available online at www.fsk-vsv.de/eng or by phone: 0711 993 751- 0.