Iain Buss, Recycling Operations Manager, at Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES), sadly passed away on Monday 23 March due to the Covid 19 virus, after a short stay in the Royal United Hospital, Bath, writes Steve Thorne of Bath and North East Somerset Council
Avon Friends of the Earth
Iain had been a passionate member of the recycling industry since 1995 when he started his career at the Avon Friends of the Earth partnership with Bath City Council, developing recycling services in the city of Bath. During the 1990s, Iain was key in the development of the kerbside collection service we see today, with the introduction of one of the first Kerbside sort collections to add plastic bottles.
During the early 2000s, Iain took on a new challenge with adding new commercial collections to the recycling service, merging with Resourcesavers commercial collections, creating RRS Recycling.
In 2003, Iain took a break from the recycling industry for a few years and then returned to the industry in 2006 to work for ECT Recycling (a community sector organisation) based at the Somerset Waste Partnership depot in Evercreech as Supervisor looking after the day to day running of collection crews.
Bath
In 2008, May Gurney took on the ECT Recycling operations and Iain moved to North Somerset, in the Weston Super Mare depot as Assistant Manager for the waste and recycling contract, but his heart was always with his old service at Bath and North East Somerset Council where his career began, so after about a year Iain took a post of Recycling Supervisor at the Bath and North East Somerset Recycling depot in Keynsham, working for Kier.
In-house
In 2017 Bath and North East Somerset Council took the recycling service in-house and harmonised the waste and recycling services. Iain was instrumental in the implementation of the new service for the local authority at this time including total round reorganisation and introduction of a fleet of new vehicles.
I am honoured and privileged to have worked with Iain through the 1990s in the community sector and on my return to the Council in 2017. Iain was such a passionate advocate of recycling in the area and will be sadly missed by all of his colleagues. I am also proud to call him a good friend outside of work, playing rugby with him for many years and being part of his life.
Contact
If anyone would like to send words of support to his wife Annika and sons Bruno and Olly, I am more than happy to pass them on via my email Steve_Thorne@BATHNES.GOV.UK
So sad. Iain was a great guy and part of great things to advance UK recycling, involving many good people in Bath & North East Somerset in the 1990s. Thanks for sharing Steve, and best wishes to all at B&NES.
Such very sad news, thoughts to family friends and colleagues at his time.