Benoît Hennaut, chairman and managing director of French building material trading firm, Herige (Vendée; www.groupe-herige.fr), has been elected president of industry association, European Plastics Converters (EuPC, Brussels; www.eupc.org), at EuPC’s annual meeting on 20 May 2022 in Brussels. The move to president seems like a natural progression for Hennaut, as he has been serving as the vice-president of the association since July 2020.

Hennaut is to keep his position as president for the next two years, and is taking over from Renato Zelcher, CEO of Italian films manufacturer Crocco (Cornedo Vicentino; www.crocco.com), who had been re-elected as EuPC president in 2020 (see Plasteurope.com of 16.06.2020).

Besides EuPC, Hennaut has also been the chairman of the building division at French plastics processors association Polyvia (Paris; www.polyvia.fr) since January 2021, and the vice-president of the French association of construction products industries, AIMCC (www.aimcc.org) since June 2021.

Hennaut studied nuclear engineering at Ecole Supérieure Industrielle de Bruxelles, and holds an MBA from Université catholique de Louvain. Until 2020, he worked as vice-president Western Europe for plastic pipe producer Aliaxis (Brussels; www.aliaxis.com).

Related: Marco ten Bruggencate appointed head of European resin makers’ association Plastics Europe

Background: Herige

As a main actor in building material trading, production of industrial joinery (wood, PVC, and aluminium) with two specialised networks, and of ready mix concrete and industrial precast concrete, Herige is mainly focused on the building industry. The 100-year-old company combines its distribution network and industrial abilities in order to offer solutions for new buildings and renovation. In 2021, the French group recorded sales of EUR 712 mn and an operating income of EUR 31.2 mn, despite a difficult macroeconomic and health backdrop. Herige is contributing to the energy transition of buildings by lowering carbon impact. Its support to the circular economy includes the creation of a new structure dedicated to the recycling of end-of-life PVC. The company based in Western France is largely present in the Greater West regions, Canada, and overseas territory.