Viridor Resource Management’s recycling chief, Herman van der Meij, is to leave the company at the end of the month.
He has been succeeded as managing director of the recycling and resource management business by Keith Trower, who has recently been appointed to the post.
Herman van der Meij leaves Viridor Resource Management at the end of March
Mr van der Meij is seen as being one of the UK’s top recycling experts with a keen knowledge of global markets and commodity trends. He has made numerous conference appearances and has been responsible for developing a wide range of recycling and associated activities within Viridor, championing a circular economy message.
He took on the role of managing director of Viridor Resource Management which is part of Viridor – a Pennon Group subsidiary – in 2011. This followed his original entry into the business when Viridor acquired Grosvenor Waste Management UK in 2007, where Mr van der Meij had been commercial director.
During his tenure at VRM, he added management responsibility for Viridor Plastics Recycling and VRM Sales as well as five commercial recycling sites across the UK.
Addressing conferences, he has often reflected on his family roots particularly in paper recycling in Holland and has been an enthusiastic supporter of driving up recycling levels.
In recent years Mr van der Meij has also emphasised the importance of quality in recycling. Five years ago, he said: “The quality of our recyclables is of the utmost importance, only quality sells…
“To get this quality in Viridor we have a very large investment programme and, to get quality, first you have to start with the input, then what comes out as the output.”
Keith Trower, new managing director of Viridor Resource Management
Mr van der Meij told letsrecycle.com: “I have enjoyed working at Viridor and helping to grow the recycling business as well as playing my part in the development of recycling in the UK. I am now looking forward to fresh opportunities from April.”
Vision
Keith Trower, an experienced international management consultant, spent 18 years trading oil and gas with BP and has led teams in the energy and financial services sectors and professional standards bodies.
In a statement today, Viridor Resource Management (VRM) explained that Mr Trower, who joined the company in August 2015, has brought in a team of specialists “as part of his vision to re-energise VRM’s focus on selling recycled materials to the UK, Europe and world markets”.
Mr Trower said that his “immediate portfolio activity was a review of energy from waste residues, both IBA and APCr, and establishing long term partnerships, ensuring 100% recycling solutions.”
This work was followed by leading a review of the future Viridor glass strategy, “identifying what investments are appropriate in the context of Viridor’s supply chain and market requirements”.
Customer service
Mr Trower explained that this vision was based on a VRM team delivering “excellent customer service”, with a “customer-led” focus led by VRM traders who would articulate customer requirements with a view to translating these into future quality and product projects.
And he said he considered that this investment of category-specific team members had already paid dividends, with new partnerships in polymers, glass and recycled paper.
Looking ahead, Mr Trower said future plans included: “Investment in new technologies including use of web-based freight systems and iCloud based platforms to enhance and improve customer service, developing structured partners with third parties, including freight forwarders and shipping lines to support Viridor’s export portfolio while at the same time ensuring excellent account management with UK and European-based customers.”
In terms of recyclates handled, Mr Trower noted that “the company’s high level of knowledge and expertise, coupled with our valuable insight into the manufacturing industry, led to its total volume of materials recycled increasing to more than 600,000 tonnes in 2016 despite the current economic climate and downturn in recyclate prices.”
The post Trower in as Van der Meij leaves Viridor Resource Management appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
