Willemijn Peeters

About Willemijn Peeters

Willemijn Peeters is an internationally recognised speaker on circular plastics, sustainability leadership and systems change. As Ocean Ambassador of the Netherlands and founder of Searious Business, she operates at the intersection of business, policy and environmental impact — translating purpose into pragmatic strategies that companies can actually implement.

With a background in business management and corporate strategy, Willemijn did not arrive in sustainability from the sidelines. After years in the corporate world, she made a conscious decision to devote her career to preventing plastic pollution — not by opposing business, but by working with it. She saw that meaningful environmental progress would only happen if sustainability could be embedded into business logic, value creation and competitive advantage.

That insight led to the founding of Searious Business, a social enterprise that helps leading international brands close the plastic loop in three key impact sectors: (food) packaging, furniture and consumer electronics. By strategically assessing internal plastic use, accelerating circular product and business innovation, and addressing external impacts on ocean ecosystems, Willemijn and her team create economically viable alternatives at the source — before pollution occurs.

If we want a future with a living ocean, we must close the plastic tap. Our systems need to change — and that change begins with business.

Over the past decade, Willemijn has worked extensively with global brands, governments, NGOs and international organisations to accelerate the transition to a circular plastics economy. Her work has taken her from boardrooms in Europe to policy and implementation dialogues in Small Island Developing States in the Pacific and Caribbean, across Africa, and throughout Latin America. In these contexts, she is valued as a trusted bridge-builder: someone who understands political ambition, commercial realities and environmental urgency — and knows how to connect them.

What sets Willemijn apart as a speaker is her ability to mobilise unlikely coalitions and move conversations from intention to action. She brings deep technical knowledge of circularity, combined with a pragmatic, goal-oriented mindset and a talent for engaging diverse audiences — from CEOs and entrepreneurs to policymakers and civil society leaders. Persistence and guts define her approach, as does her belief that progress requires both ambition and feasibility.

Willemijn has been recognised with numerous awards and roles, including Green Solutions Partner of the European Commission, Leader in the Dutch Sustainable Top 100, Winner of the Plastic Recycling Europe Award, and member of the Dutch Circular Economy Transition Team. She is also the developer and co-developer of several breakthrough circular products and platforms, including a fully recyclable drink pouch, the IUCN Oceans and Plastics Platform, and furniture made from over 95% recycled plastics.

Are you part of an organisation ready to set higher impact targets? Willemijn Peeters inspires, challenges and equips audiences to act — turning complex sustainability challenges into concrete opportunities for leadership and change.