It has been more than a year since Trinseo (Berwyn, Pennsylvania / USA; www.trinseo.com) – Dow’s former styrenics business – went public (see Plasteurope.com of 12.06.2014), but the company continues to undergo changes associated with the move. After introducing a new business structure last year (see Plasteurope.com of 13.10.2014), on 1 November 2015 the styrenics producer intends to follow up with a number of personnel changes. Chief among them is the creation of an interim chief operating officer (COO) position, which will be assumed by Martin Pugh, current senior vice president and business president of Performance Materials. Commenting on the decision to set up the position, CEO Chris Pappas said, “We are establishing the COO position as an interim role as the company implements a number of strategic initiatives that must be integrated into our businesses.”

Pugh’s existing role as president of Performance Materials will be handed over to Hayati Yarkadas, who joins Trinseo from his previous role as general manager Europe for Tate & Lyle. Reporting directly to Pugh, Yarkadas will be based in Horgen / Switzerland. Also joining the team, as president of Basic Plastics and Feedstocks, will be Tim Stedman, who previously worked as business director of Basic Chemicals at ExxonMobil Chemical. He, too, will be based in Horgen.

The business units will also receive new leaders. Current global business director of Synthetic Rubber Francesca Reverberi will become global business director of Basic Plastics, with responsibility for the global polycarbonate and styrenic polymers businesses, including PS, ABS and SAN. Celso Magri, currently marketing manager of Styrenic Polymers EMEA, will become global product director of Basic Plastics, while global product director for Styrenic Polymers Samer Al Jabi will become global business director of Synthetic Rubber. All three positions are based in Horgen.