OBITUARY: Bill Townend OBE

William Townend, a former president of CIWM who was awarded an OBE for his services to waste management, has died aged 80.

During his career, Mr Townend worked for the Greater London Council (GLC) and the Environment Agency and was particularly known for his work in healthcare waste and on United Nations-backed projects.

Mr Townend trained as a public health inspector in the West Midlands and worked extensively with waste collection services, finally in Coventry. His transition to waste treatment and disposal occurred when he was appointed as the West Area Manager for the Greater London Council (GLC) in 1973 and through promotion ultimately took charge of all the day to day operational responsibilities for waste management.

Jeff Cooper, outgoing president of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), worked alongside Mr Townend at the GLC and then London Waste Regulation Authority and during the early days of the Environment Agency from 1996 to 1998, before Mr Townend retired.

Mr Townend was also the founder and long-standing chairman ofISWA’s Healthcare Waste Working Group from 1996 until 2010.

Mr Cooper said: Bills skills and expertise in this sector had been honed through his pioneering work for the GLC and LWRA and were well recognised by the World Health Organisation and a large number of international organisations, national governments that invited his participation in high level conferences and training events. For this role he was recognised by ISWA through their appointing him as an Honorary Member in 2004.

CIWM

Mr Townend was a long standing supporter of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), both at the local level but also nationally through his work on the Education and Training Committee. His interest to raise standards of on the job training and continuing professional development saw him become one of the founder members of WAMITAB (Waste Management Industry Training Advisory Board), on whose Executive Council he served for 20 years. He was elected as president of CIWM for 1999-2000.

CIWM chief executive Steve Lee, said: All of us at CIWM are deeply saddened by Bills death. He was a staunch supporter of CIWM, contributing greatly to its work on education and healthcare waste in particular, as well as serving as its president. He also made a significant contribution to raising waste management standards through his work for WAMITAB, ISWA and the World Health Organisation, and commanded a great deal of personal affection and respect among all of us who knew him. He will be sadly missed.

Outside of work, Mr Cooper said Mr Townend was a lifelong and enthusiastic supporter of West Bromwich Albion and enjoyed playing golf.

He added: We will miss his good humour and anecdotes. We send our condolences to his wife, Pat, his sweetheart from those early days when he was a trainee environmental health officer in Birmingham.