At the Annual General Meeting of EDANA, the European Disposables and Nonwovens Association, held in Berlin, Germany in May, Gerd Ries, vice president EAME, Regulatory and Medical Affairs for Johnson & Johnson, Germany, was elected chairman of EDANA by members for a one-year term of office. Mr. Ries replaces Luc Maes, who will leave British Vita Nonwovens Division (Libeltex BVBA) later this year. Pieter Meijer, vice president marketing and sales Europe, Fiberweb France S.A.S., was elected vice chairman while Gunnar Preifors, director R&D personal care, SCA Hygiene Products AB, Sweden, and Paul Eevers, director beverages, supply management, Unilever Europe Foods, Belgium, were both re-elected by the members as vice chairman and treasurer respectively. Additionally, EDANA welcomed three newcomers to its board for a three-year term of office: José Durany of Tesalca-99 S.A., Spain, Michael Hartnett of Mölnlycke Health Care, Sweden, and Ghobad Rahrooh of U.S.-based Procter & Gamble.

Held concurrently with the General Meeting, EDANA’s 2007 International Symposium drew some 200 delegates from the nonwovens and related industries. According to EDANA, the symposium featured an interesting mix of fourteen high-level and diverse presentations covering nonwovens, raw materials and machinery trends and innovations.