Niall Dunne (born 30 November 1974) is an Irish business leader and sustainability advocate. He is a former Chief Executive Officer of Polymateria, a UK-based biodegradable plastics company, and previously served as Chief Sustainability Officer at

BT Group BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...

. In 2024, Dunne was appointed as an Ambassador to His Majesty

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

’s Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI).

Early life and education

Dunne was born in Dublin, Ireland, and attended

Belvedere College Belvedere College Society of Jesus, S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a fee-paying voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. Formally established in 1832 at Hardwicke Street in north inner city Dublin, the school was ...

. He later attended

Manhattan College Manhattan University (previously Manhattan College) is a private, Catholic university in New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers (Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools) as an academy fo ...

in New York on an athletics scholarship.

Early career

Dunne began his career in technology and communications, holding leadership roles in sustainability and innovation at companies such as

Saatchi & Saatchi Saatchi and Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency ...

and

Accenture Accenture plc is a global multinational professional services company originating in the United States and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, that specializes in information technology (IT) services and management consulting. It was founded in 1 ...

BT Group

In 2011, Dunne was appointed Chief Sustainability Officer at BT Group, where he led the company’s environmental and corporate responsibility initiatives. He was instrumental in integrating sustainable business models into BT’s core strategy and contributed to decarbonization efforts across the telecommunications sector.

Polymateria

In 2018, Dunne became Chief Executive Officer of Polymateria, a London-based materials science company focused on creating biodegradable plastics that do not generate microplastics. Under his leadership, Polymateria raised more than £50 million in funding from investors including King Charles III’s charitable network,

Indorama Ventures Indorama Ventures (IVL) is a producer of intermediate petrochemicals industry, the world's largest producer of PET resins, and a manufacturer of wool yarns established by Aloke Lohia in Bangkok in 1994. History IVL commenced business operati ...

Temasek Temasek ( or , also spelt Temasik or Tumasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents ...

, and Planet First Partners. According to The Times, the company’s valuation increased more than tenfold by the time of its Series B funding round in 2023. During his tenure, Dunne led high-profile partnerships with Taylor Swift’s global tour and

Formula 1 Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

, implementing solutions to reduce plastic waste at major international events. Niall Dunne 2

Dunne stepped down as CEO of Polymateria in late 2024.

Sustainable Markets Initiative

In 2024, Dunne was appointed as an Ambassador to the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), founded by

to promote sustainable business practices and accelerate global transition toward a more resilient and inclusive economy. In this role, Dunne contributes to advancing the SMI’s broader mission on legacy, impact and long-term systems change.

Early life and education

Early career

BT Group

Polymateria

Sustainable Markets Initiative

Personal life

References

External links