Michael Braungart

Professor Dr. Michael Braungart is founder and scientific CEO of “EPEA Internationale Umweltforschung GmbH” in Hamburg. He is also co-founder and scientific head of “McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry” (MBDC) in Charlottesville, Virginia (USA), and founder and scientific head of the “Hamburger Umweltinstitut” (HUI). These institutes share values embracing intelligent, aesthetic and eco-effective Design.

Braungart studied chemistry and process engineering, amongst others in Konstanz and Darmstadt (Germany). In the 1980s he dedicated his work to the environmental organization Greenpeace. From 1982 on he was active in establishing its chemistry department, which he took over in 1985. In the same year he received his Ph.D. from the University of Hannover’s chemistry department. He founded EPEA in 1987.

Since then he has been involved with research and consultancy for eco-effective Products – i.e. products and production processes that are designed for closed loops and do not harm man or nature, but rather contribute to their well-being. He works together with many organizations and companies from different branches; for instance in a partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which has adopted Cradle to Cradle.

Today he holds four academic chairs: at the Rotterdam School of Management of Erasmus University, Leuphana University Lüneburg, University Twente in Enschede and at TU Delft (visiting). In 2013, Braungart was awarded an honorary professorship from TU München in the context of the federal Initiative of Excellence and also received an honorary doctorate from Hasselt University (Belgium).

Mr. Braungart is co-author of the “Hanover Principles of Design: Design for Sustainability”, which served as the development guidelines for the World's Fair in Hannover in 2000. He also co-authored two books with William McDonough: “Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things” in 2002 and “The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability – Designing for Abundance” in 2013.

Michael Braungart has received several awards. Among others the “Océ-van-der-Grinten Award” for the development of the Intelligent Product System (IPS) in 1993, the “B.A.U.M. Award” (by a circle of German entrepreneurs who dedicate themselves to environment-friendly processing and management) for his outstanding scientific achievements in 1999, the “Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award” from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2003 and the “Sustainable Entrepreneurship Award (SEA) of Excellence” for his exceptional commitment to the promotion of sustainable entrepreneurship in 2013.