Richard Skorpenske leads Covestro’s Sustainability and Public Affairs (S&PA) in North America. He is responsible for heading the company’s sustainability, circular economy, government affairs and advocacy efforts at the regional level. S&PA NA is also responsible for proactively addressing social topics and driving engagement, donations and reporting in line with overarching sustainability and circularity strategy. He is also a member of Covestro’s U.S. Country Council.
Richard joined Bayer MaterialScience (predecessor to Covestro) in 2000 as director of Flexible Foam Raw Material business development and most recently served as head of Polyurethane advocacy and sustainability. He had previously worked for Lyondell Chemical Company and The Dow Chemical Company.
During his more than 30-year industrial career, Richard has focused on product research and development, new business development, global technology management, business team strategy and employee growth. He has led the development of technologies that eliminated ozone-depleting blowing agents, improved combustion-resistant foams, improved indoor air quality and a more sustainable polyol process.
Richard serves on the Board of Directors for Cribs for Kids, which provides cribs and services to underserved families.