The change, which will come into effect on January 1, 2009, is intended to allow the IWPPA to better represent the interest of its members who are now dealing with additional material streams – and in particular plastics – rather than just paper.
As part of the rebranding, the Recycling Association will adopt a new logo and launch a website, which is due to come online a few months into the New Year. The change is also intended to help differentiate the Daventry-based trade association from its trading arm – the Independent Waste Paper Producers Limited.
David Symmers, chief executive of the IWPPA, said: “Our members used to be just waste paper merchants, but now more and more are handling more than one material. We will still represent paper and the Recycling Association will still always have its roots in paper but this will now be alongside other materials.”
Members are handling more than just paper
David Symmers, IWPPA – to be renamed the Recycling Association
And, he emphasised: “We are not trying to usurp the role of others industry bodies but need to be aware of the issues that affect members dealing in different materials.”
As part of the change, Mr Symmers will take up a higher profile in representing the organisation's members at UK and European level as well as interacting more with members on core issues. He is currently vice-president of the European Recovered Paper Association, ERP. The trading arm will remain unchanged as Independent Waste Paper Producers Limited and the company will be overseen by Richard Kemp, who joined the IWPPA from London Waste in mid-2008.
Members
The IWPPA – which was formed in 1975 to promote recycling in the waste paper sector – currently has 100 members including recovered paper merchants, waste management companies and associate members from baling firms and insurance firms.
Mr Symmers claimed that the Recycling Association would not be going by the acronym TRA, which is currently used by the Textiles Recycling Association, but was hopeful that a rebranding would allow the organisation to communicate better with its members and was intended to set them in a new direction.
He said: “We have to show that this is more than just a name change – we have to show the activities have changed and we will be able to show that we are working to our members' advantage and promoting their causes. It is now all about getting signs over quickly and about an ongoing dialogue on their behalf.”
A logo for the Recycling Association will be unveiled on January 1, while the existing IWPPA website will serve as the organisation's online presence until early in the New Year when it will be replaced by a Recycling Association website.
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