NatureWorks Names Richard Altice New President, CEO

NatureWorks’ board of directors named Richard Altice as the company’s new president and CEO, replacing Marc Verbruggen, who led the company from 2008 until his 2017 retirement.

Altice comes to NatureWorks from PolyOne Corporation where he was SVP and president – Designed Structures and Solutions. At PolyOne, he had global responsibility for the sheet, roll stock, and formed packaging business. Prior to PolyOne, Altice also served as VP of Hexion’s global specialty epoxy business focused on coatings and composites. Altice holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology. 

“Rich is an exemplary leader.  He brings broad experience and demonstrated success in international business, strategic marketing, and building highly effective teams to serve customers in the polymer and chemical industry,” said Peter Hawthorne, chairman of the board. “We believe Rich’s leadership will advance market development and the adoption of NatureWorks’ performance materials in new applications.”

“Through my prior work experience, I became familiar with NatureWorks and thought very highly of the company and its products,” said Altice. “I believe that the NatureWorks culture, the company’s leadership, and the market interest in renewably sourced advanced polymers and chemicals presents an exciting opportunity and time to be a part of the NatureWorks journey. I feel fortunate to have been selected as the company’s new president and CEO.” 

NatureWorks was the first company to offer commercially available low-carbon-footprint bioplastics derived from 100-percent annually renewable resources. Recently, NatureWorks reached the milestone of two billion pounds of Ingeo biopolymer sold globally via its comprehensive portfolio of 33 grades, which are converted into thousands of consumer and industrial products. In 2017, the company launched a performance chemicals business with the new Vercet platform for adhesives and coatings. Along with its customers and supply chain partners, NatureWorks continues to introduce new, innovative Ingeo-based applications across a spectrum of industries, including expanded offerings for 3D printing filaments, a first-of-its-kind liner to increase the energy efficiency of refrigerators, and hydrophilic nonwovens for absorbent hygiene products. With leading coffee companies, NatureWorks is developing a new generation of high performance compostable capsules for single-serve coffee makers. 

These applications and more will be discussed at Innovation Takes Root, the international forum on advanced biomaterials, this September in San Diego, Calif.