The Essex cabinet member for Environment, Heritage and Culture described her investiture as “wonderful”. Cllr Twitchen is highly-respected for her work in the waste sector, and was awarded the Order of the British Empire as part of this year's New Year's Honours for services to local government.
 Cllr Kay Twitchen receiving her OBE from Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace this week |
An Essex councillor since 1989, Kay Twitchen is responsible for recycling in Essex, which is among the top five English counties for municipal waste recycling, with a rate of 23% in 2002-03.
As well as her important work at Essex county council, Cllr Twitchen is a board member of the Environment Agency and a member of the Steering Committee overseeing Defra's Waste Implementation Programme.
And, she was chair of the Local Government Association's waste and environmental management executive until she stepped down last summer.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, about her meeting with the Queen, she said: “It was a wonderful day, I was very very proud. I only had a minute or two with the Queen, but she'd; heard about my work with waste, and she asked about the (UK) fridge problem. It was a lovely occasion and I felt very special.”
A popular figure in the waste and recycling sector, Cllr Twitchen has also been chair of local market development agency ReMaDe Essex, a non-executive director of the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), president of the Association for the Sustainable Use and Recovery of Resources in Europe (ASSURE) and vice chair of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions’ Environment Committee.
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