OEKO-TEX®

Nathaniel Sponsler is a product chemical regulatory specialist and attorney with expertise in supply chain management, product regulatory compliance, and sustainable chemicals management policy. He received his JD from the University of San Francisco School of Law, B.A. in Psychology from Amherst College, and has studied general and organic chemistry at U.C. Berkeley. He has over nine years’ experience overseeing chemicals management for Gap Inc. and has led multiple industry collaborative initiatives to address hazardous chemical issues in apparel and footwear manufacturing, including serving as the inaugural Chair of the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Foundation.

Nathaniel serves as Director of the Apparel and Footwear International RSL Management (AFIRM_®) Working Group, a group of companies whose mission is to reduce the use and impact of harmful substances in the apparel and footwear supply chain – www.afirm-group.com.

After studying and doing her doctorate thesis  in organic chemistry in Münster, Monika Kohla became acquainted with industrial environmental protection at Siemens in Berlin. This awakened a desire for "more," so when she was given the opportunity to set up an "environmental department" at a regional textile association, she returned to Münster.

Over the next 25 years, she developed  the environmental unit to become the department for the environment, energy and consumer protection - an indication of the increasing importance of these issues for the industry. Her expertise and the benefits of intensive support for companies, which became a model nationwide, led other associations to set up similar departments.

When REACH came along, Monika Kohla became known throughout Europe for practical pilot projects, the results of which she eventually presented to a delegation of the German government in Brussels. Her chemical expertise led her to become a leader in helping importing garment companies to avoid pollutants regulated under REACH.

In 2017, she joined GermanFashion, the association of the garment industry and IVGT, representing textile producers, enabling her to advise around 500 companies nationwide on REACH, environmental protection and supply chain sustainability.

Publications

"Increasing Efficiency in the Textile Industry" in the series Initiatives for Environmental Protection, together with several co-authors, various articles in Melliand and other trade journals.

As the Managing Director of the Laboratories GmbH & Co. KG, Stefan Droste is responsible for the international network of offices and labs, strategy and development of the textile testing business. Stefan leads OEKO-TEX® related projects within Hohenstein and serves as an analytical chemistry expert for the association.

Prior to joining Hohenstein in 2011, Stefan led material characterization and process analytics at the BASF Group. Previously, he worked in process analytics and automation as a scientist at Cognis.

Stefan holds a doctorate in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Wuppertal and an M.B.A. from Manheim University.

Dr. Jean-Pierre Haug serves as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of TESTEX AG, a textile testing laboratory established in 1846 in Zurich, Switzerland. TESTEX is the Swiss representative of the OEKO-TEX® Association and officially represents the organization in several countries, including China, Hong Kong, and other key textile hubs across Asia.

Dr. Haug began his professional career in 1993 with a doctoral thesis from ETH Zurich in the pocket, where he developed the principle for a non-enzymatic optical glucose sensor. Upon joining TESTEX, he introduced analytical chemistry to the laboratory's portfolio and immediately began working on the implementation of the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 certification in Switzerland.

For many years, Dr. Haug chaired the Technical Committee of the OEKO-TEX® Association, playing an important role in shaping the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100. From 2010 to 2014, he also served as the OEKO-TEX® Secretary General, overseeing the launch of various new services such as OEKO-TEX® STeP and OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN.

Dr. Dietrich Tegtmeyer is the Global Head of Business Development and Industry Relations at TFL Group.