Mr. Mahesh Pradhan, COBSEA Coordinator a.i., has over 25 years of experience with UNEP. In September 2021, he facilitated the first part of COBSEA’s 25th Intergovernmental Meeting (IGM 25.1) which approved COBSEA’s Biennial Programme of Work for 2021‐2022, the COBSEA Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI), and other key documents.

Director Natural joined government right after graduation and has been a public servant ever since. She joined the government as a way of giving back to the people, to whom she owes her education, having attended public schools from elementary until postgraduate level. Her keen interest in science paved the way for her moving to the Manila Science High School after completing her elementary education. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences at the University of the Philippines Manila.

Pratibha is the Chief Sustainability officer of Lucro Plastecycle, an Indian waste collector, recycler and product manufacturer that is a pioneer in developing post-consumer recyclate products, to achieve Circular Economy for plastics in India. She is a seasoned Marketing professional and sustainability advocate.  She has extensive experience in the Food and Beverage/Agriculture companies that were on a mission to make agriculture better for people and for the planet; by building sustainable livelihoods for farmers & communities.

Bintang Ekananda is an environmental engineer and circular economy advocate. As the co-founder and CEO of Alner, a startup specializing in returnable and refillable packaging for daily necessities, he leads efforts to eliminate waste. Bintang holds a master’s degree in Energy & Environment from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. Additionally, he serves as an assistant professor in the Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Muhammadiyah Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia.

Dr. Marianne Bigum Team is a plastic and circular economy consultant at ADB. Marianne Bigum previously worked at the Circular economy and waste department at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, where she among other things worked with plastic waste management, policies and strategies. Marianne conducted research in Life cycle assessments of waste management at the Technical University, with a specific focus on environmental assessments of WEEE, with a focus on resource evaluation metal recovery.

Ho-Sang Lim is the Executive Director of Hanwha Chemical, which has led the Korean petrochemical industry through market-leading general-purpose plastics and inorganic chemical products.