BMRA appoints new director general

Mr Hetherington, who retired a year ago as chief executive of Skills for Logistics, the sector skills council serving freight logistics, is coming back into work to replace current director general Lindsay Millington, who has been credited for raising the awareness of metal recycling in the UK during her three years in the role (see letsrecycle.com story). Mr Hetherington has declined to give his age to the media.

In his previous role, he was responsible for the sector skills council for businesses involved in planning, moving, and handling goods – an industry worth £74 billion to the economy, employing approximately over 2 million people.

Commenting on the appointment, Michael Wright, president of the BMRA said: “We are very pleased to welcome Ian to the BMRA team. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will help us to drive forward Agenda for Change, our programme of lobbying on regulatory issues, and is just the right person to build on the sterling work that has been done by Lindsay Millington over the last four years.”

Ms Millington and Mr Hetherington are to work together in a planned handover phase before Hetherington officially takes on the role of director general in April.

One of his key responsibilities is expected to be helping metal recyclers who have been badly-hit by the economic downturn.

Successful

“I'm looking forward to working with Lindsay and the BMRA membership,” said Mr Hetherington. “Metal recycling is worth £5 billion to the UK economy and is far and away our biggest and most successful recycling industry. It can do even more, given the right support from government.

“From April, I will be focusing on ensuring that UK and European policymakers fully understand the massive contribution BMRA members make to recycling and CO2 reduction targets. I will be pressing government and regulators to be more active in tackling issues such as over-regulation, end-of-waste and illegal operators, and will encourage them to join with us in developing a co-ordinated industry-government strategy to meet future targets.”

The British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) represents the £5 billion UK metals recycling industry. It currently had 300 members, including large and small businesses in both the ferrous and non-ferrous sectors including shredder operators, merchants and traders.