TEPPFA appoints Martina Conton as Director General

The European Plastic Pipes and Fittings Association, the Brussels-based federation that represents Europe's plastic pipe and fittings makers, has a new leader. Martina Conton becomes Director General on 1 July 2026, taking over from Ludo Debever, who is retiring after years steering the association.

Conton joins from the energy company Neste, where she was senior EU affairs manager. She has spent much of her career inside European industry associations, with a background in sustainability, industrial policy and heavily regulated sectors linked to chemicals and energy.

The handover is being managed rather than rushed. Debever stays on as transition manager until the end of October, giving the incoming Director General time to settle and the membership continuity through the change. President Rolf Mellink said Conton's strategic approach and EU advocacy experience would serve the members well.

For association leaders elsewhere, the interest sits in the model as much as the appointment. TEPPFA brings together national associations and multinational company members across Europe, and a clean staged succession at the top of a pan-European federation is a useful reference point for any body planning its own change of leadership.