Ewald-Marco Münzer

EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Class of 2024, Austria
CEO of Münzer Bioindustrie GmbH

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Ewald-Marco Münzer minimizes waste to maximize resources for his business and society.

As the second-generation leaders of Münzer Bioindustrie, Ewald-Marco Münzer and his brother, Michael Münzer, demonstrate that “energy from waste” is more than the company motto. Founded in 1991 by their father, the business creates a circular economy by disposing of liquid and solid waste, collecting and recycling used cooking oils to produce biodiesel and performing technical cleanings of industrial facilities. The company’s mission is to be a sustainable circular economy pioneer. “Doing so provides environmental, economic and social benefits to the company's entire value chain,” says Ewald-Marco.

Münzer Bioindustrie has always been a first mover. It applied European Union (EU) standards on occupational health and safety, fair and equal pay, regular working hours and fair working conditions to its operations in Kenya, India and Cambodia, going above and beyond the countries’ national standards. The business is also adding biogas production to its repertoire, building Europe’s most cutting-edge biogas plant. The company now operates in 15 locations across 10 countries in three continents. 

Ewald-Marco is known for his pursuit of sustainable management as well, consistently looking for improvements in the core business to make it more efficient and effective. He also reinvests shareholder profits in excess of 50% to implement projects like the new biogas plant.