Mr Lee is leaving CIWM in October and has served as the chief executive of RWUK since that organisation was created in 2014. At CIWM he will be replaced by the former Defra civil servant Colin Church.
RWUK was set up jointly by CIWM and the Environmental Services Association (ESA) with the aim of forming “a single voice in the interests of championing the future of resource management”.
The organisation is steered by a board which includes senior waste industry figures including the Suez chief executive David Palmer-Jones and Cory’s Peter Gerstrom who is chairman of the Environmental Services Association.
Since its inception RWUK has produced a research study advocating the renegotiation of waste contracts between the private sector and councils as a ‘short term priority’ to offset the industry’s exposure to market volatility (see letsrecycle.com).
‘Pressures’
In a statement, the organisation claimed that ‘new pressures’ arising from the UK’s decision to leave the EU ‘make the need for a co-ordinated voice for the industry more important than ever’.
Mr Lee will be working closely with senior management, board members and trustees of both CIWM and ESA to ‘champion the needs of the sector’, the organisation claimed.
CIWM president professor Jim Baird, who also sits on the RWUK board, said: “Our industry faces challenges and opportunities – and responsibilities – that are greater than ever. Continued collaborative working between our two organisations is essential and we are delighted to confirm that Steve will continue to lead and support us in that work.”
The appointment marks the latest in a string of high profile job changes in the waste sector, with Mr Lee’s departure from CIWM, which was announced in January, followed by Liz Goodwin’s exit from WRAP – with operations director Marcus Gover taking over from last month.
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