Wood Recyclers Association appoints new chair

Mr Hill was confirmed in the position at the Associations Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Birmingham last week (March 6).

He takes over from Clem Spencer, who runs Wood Yew Waste in Plymouth. Mr Spencer has held the role of chair at the association for almost four years since June 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Hill, who is organics and alternative fuels manager at SITA UK,said he was honoured to have been chosen and paid tribute to the work of Mr Spencer.

He said: I’m honoured to have been selected by the Board to Chair the association and I plan to continue to build on the strong platform that has been created by my immediate predecessor, Clem Spencer and the previous chairmen.

The industry faces a number of challenges including the growth/development of European markets and tighter regulatory scrutiny and control. Whilst we all welcome an industry that continually strives for improvement and higher standards, it’s very important that we present a united and strong industry that can have pragmatic and sensible dialogue with all stakeholders. I see this as the main focus for the WRA over the short and medium term.

Reflecting his time as chair, Mr Spencer told letsrecycle.com that he viewed the creation of the Wood Recyclers Association (WRA) board as his most important legacy.

He said: When I took over I said we need a board of directors and that board has gone from strength to strength and given us more credence.

Board

The AGM also saw elections to the WRA board. Four members were elected in total, three of whom were standing for re-election while one, Paul Caldwell, joined the board for the first time. Mr Caldwell works for machinery manufacturer IQR Systems and is the first service member to serve on the WRA board.

The board members elected/re-elected were:

• Geoff Hadfield, GI Hadfield and Son
• David Laing, DJ Laing Recycling
• David McEwan, Larners Recycling
• Paul Caldwell, IQR Systems

WRA secretary Peter Butt said: We had a good election with 7 excellent candidates competing for 4 posts. This is a good sign of a very healthy democracy.

The AGM took place alongside the Wood Recyclers Associations (WRA) spring meeting with over 70 members from 46 different member companies attending. Discussions covered areas such as permitting and exemptions to the Wood Quality Protocol and dust and fire control.