Valpak to lose chief executive and operations director

Chief executive John Turner is to retire in the spring and he will be followed in August or before by Graeme Carus, director of operations.

The announcement of Mr Carus's departure comes only weeks before the appointment of a new chief executive by the Valpak board. The chief executive post, which was advertised last November, is one of the most senior in the recycling sector and is also one of the best paid with Mr Turner believed to receive in the order of 263,000 a year.

Mr Carus, who was widely seen as Mr Turner's number two, has been with the scheme for four years, and is credited with developing Valpak's links with industry to generate more material, especially in the glass sector. And he is also now leading a move by Valpak to develop closer links with local authorities.

It is thought that Mr Carus was a strong candidate for the chief executive position. He told letsrecycle that his decision to leave, for which he has to give six month's notice “is all perfectly straightforward and amicable. It will be good for me and good for them.”
And, he said that he was still to decide on his future career although he might choose to spend some months this summer with his family before making the next move.

Mr Turner, who has steered Valpak through the early years of the packaging waste legislation with an approach aimed at also ensuring that future targets are met, said Mr Carus has made an important contribution. “We will be sorry to see him leave us. We wish him success with his future career.”