Interzero revamps leadership structure

Interzero, a Berlin-based environmental service provider specializing in waste management, closed-loop solutions and plastics recycling, says it has established a single, groupwide corporate leadership team for all of Europe consisting of a chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO) and chief information officer (CIO). Jan Kroker has been named CEO, Yi Guo will serve as CFO and Claudia Wegener will serve as CIO. The company says advisory board member Peter Vogel is acting as interim CFO until Guo takes up his role.

Interzero says Kroker, Guo and Wegener are committed to continue bolstering the company’s positioning in a competition-oriented European market and further expand its role as an international extended producer responsibility (EPR) service provider.

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“The circular economy should be more than just a national issue,” says Interzero Chairman and Owner Axel Schweitzer. “We are creating a consistent global positioning for Interzero to step up the internationalization of our company, deepen cross-border, interdepartmental collaboration along our value chain and strengthen our position as a leading international EPR system provider. The new groupwide leadership team will focus on pursuing Interzero’s vision of ‘a world without waste’ both strategically and operationally so that we can continue to work with our customers and partners to drive the circular economy.”

Going forward, the company says it also will focus on implementing sustainable closed-loop solutions as well as saving more materials from incineration and conserving resources via its role as an experienced plastics recycler. The company adds that digital solutions are increasingly vital to success when it comes to organizing efficient closed-loop solutions and has tasked Wegener with incorporating more digitalization into its corporate governance.

New leadership team

Kroker took over as Interzero’s CEO this month and previously was responsible for the company’s plastics recycling business. The company says he has a background in the chemicals industry and held senior management roles at KCA Deutag and BASF before joining Interzero.

Guo joins Interzero from the Alba Group Asia. After working for DZ Bank and HSH Nordbank (now Hamburg Commercial Bank AG), he moved to the Alba Group in early 2016. Most recently, he served as CFO of the Alba Group Asia with responsibility for strategy, finance and legal and has been part of the Interzero Holding management team since 2023.

Until Guo joins the management team, Interzero says Vogel will take responsibility for the group’s finances as interim CFO. Guo spent more than 10 years working for various auditing firms before moving to the Alba Group’s recycling business in 2010, where he served as CFO from 2017-2022. Vogel has been a member of Interzero’s advisory board since February 2023.

Wegener brings more than 10 years of expertise in IT and digital transformation processes, according to Interzero. She gained experience at companies including Deutsche Telekom before setting up and managing the Lizenzero online shop for packaging licensing from 2019 onward.