Hans-Christoph Gallenkamp elected President of DIE PAPIERINDUSTRIE

• CEO of Felix Schoeller to succeed Winfried Schaur  

• Gallenkamp wants to play an active role in shaping the transformation of the industry

Hans-Christoph Gallenkamp, CEO of Felix Schoeller, was elected as the new President of DIE PAPIERINDUSTRIE on Tuesday. The members of the association, which represents 90 percent of the German pulp and paper industry, voted by a majority in Berlin for the 54-year-old from Osnabrück to succeed Winfried Schaur.  

By taking over the presidency, Gallenkamp, who is the fifth generation of his family to manage the globally active specialty paper manufacturer Felix Schoeller, is continuing a tradition within the family business: his great-grandfather Gerhard Schoeller and his father Hans-Michael Gallenkamp had previously been involved at the head of the association.  

In his inaugural speech, Gallenkamp emphasized the importance of the paper industry as a key pillar of the German economy and called for more self-confidence: "We need to make our role in society clear and show how important our products are for people's everyday lives and how future-oriented employment in the paper industry is: because paper will make a significant contribution to decarbonization. The challenges are great, but I am convinced that we will find solutions together. The future of the paper industry is in our hands and I look forward to actively working on it. 

Gallenkamp is taking over as head of the association at a time when many companies in the paper industry are struggling with the consequences of high energy costs. "Germany is driving forward the climate transition in big steps and reducing the use of fossil fuels. The bridging solution with gas-fired power plants has only worked to a limited extent since the war in Ukraine - and at the same time we have taken base load capacities off the grid. We need a bridging electricity price and peak balancing in Germany until renewable energies provide affordable and secure energy," says Gallenkamp. 

As President, Gallenkamp will help to drive forward the transformation of the industry. The aim is to develop sustainable solutions for the market in order to further reduce the environmental impact. In the competition for the best specialists, the member companies would also work on attractive working and shift models. 

The executive committee of PAPIERINDUSTRIE is completed by Vice President Dr. Christopher Grünewald, Ulrich Wienbeuker, Maximilian Heindl and Dr. Benno Hundgeburt.