ZLV General Meeting Confirms Positioning and Elects New Board
Lautrach, November 20, 2025 – At its regular general meeting held at Lautrach Castle, the Center for Food and Packaging Technology e.V. (ZLV) clearly reaffirmed its course as a networking platform along the entire value chain of the food and packaging industry. Key points included the election of the new board, a review of activities in 2025, and important strategic decisions regarding seminars, the packaging symposium, and management.
As scheduled, the ZLV board was newly elected for a two-year term. The board now consists of Peter Stober, Dr. Cornelia Stramm, Richard Steck, Daniel Schauwecker, Prof. Dr. Kajetan Müller, and Dr. Monika Knödlseder. Peter Stober was subsequently reappointed as chairman of the board. After 16 years of active service, Prof. Dr. Horst-Christian Langowski was bid farewell and honored as an honorary member by the general assembly.
ZLV Managing Director and meeting chair Thomas Lux presented the annual report, highlighting among other things the activities of the ZLV Academy. Particular emphasis was placed on the first Kempten Sealing Forum, a two-day hands-on seminar at KLEVERTEC, which is intended as a blueprint for further focused and highly application-oriented event formats.
The annual Packaging Symposium was confirmed as the ZLV’s “flagship event,” and despite the challenging economic environment, it enjoyed stable attendance and high satisfaction among both participants and exhibitors.
Within the scope of ZLV’s PR activities, special mention was made of moderating the Packbox at the Fachpack trade fair in Nuremberg. Thomas Lux organized and moderated the lecture series featuring presentations by Fraunhofer IVV, Fraunhofer ISC, KLEVERTEC, and CRC GmbH, each attracting around 100 listeners.
The assembly emphasized the networking concept as a core characteristic of ZLV, which currently has 62 members and, together with partners from industry and research, represents the entire value chain. In discussions, the challenges and opportunities of the PPWR were a recurring topic; in her keynote speech, Dr. Cornelia Stramm (Fraunhofer IVV) particularly addressed the looming recycle content gap in 2030. The event concluded with stimulating conversations in the restaurant of Lautrach Castle.
