Page 33 from: Recycling International November/December issue 2024
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Caroline Craenhals (Belgium)
Craenhals leads the family business, which has its headquarters
in Antwerp and five sites in total. ‘We process around 1.5 million
tonnes of material every year, ranging
from end-of-life vehicles to washing
machines and other bulky electronics.’
Craenhals is proud of being the fourth
generation at Belgian Scrap Terminal
and her team celebrated the compa-
ny’s 100th anniversary in 2022. ‘Many
things have been thrown at recyclers
over the last few decades: economic
crashes, wars, protectionism, geopo-
litical games, ever more ambitious
rules. It is a long list and we overcame
them all. I think it shows how resilient
and vital our sector is. Based on our
track record, I am not worried about
the future.’
Michael Braungart (Germany)
Braungart is sometimes called the godfather of the circular
economy. He wrote the essential book on the cradle-to-cradle
concept in 2002 with his business partner William McDonough. Recycling
International had the pleasure of interviewing him before his idea went
viral, ultimately resulting in the launch of the Cradle-to-Cradle Products
Innovation Institute. Its Certified Products programme is rapidly becoming
the world’s best recognised framework for assessing, optimising and verify-
ing sustainable product design and manufacturing. ‘We need to look to
nature to merge design and innovation so we can create scalable next-gen-
eration materials that are truly sustainable.’
Kyle Wiens (USA)
Wiens is the ceo of iFixit and a popular
speaker at international conferences. His online
repair community aims to empower consumers
while extending the lifecycle of modern gadgets.
The tech-savvy entrepreneur is based in San Luis
Obispo, California, where he and his team test
new devices on the market. An example is Apple’s
latest smartphone, which Wiens has found
includes a battery that can be successfully taken
out by running an electric current of 30 volts
through the adhesive. The ceo recently awarded
Google the 2024 Right to Repair Advocacy award
to on behalf of The Repair
Association for taking a leader-
ship role in terms of repairability
and circular design. Wiens is
also part of the Netflix docu-
mentary Buy More, in which he
criticises the ‘throw-away’ econ-
omy, bad product design and
the illegal dumping of waste.
Stuart Kagan (South
Africa)
Kagan is the man behind
Buddy, an online marketplace for scrap
metals. It is described by its founder as
‘the first platform built for scrappies by
scrappies and the only relationship-led
marketplace designed to build the trust
needed to conduct trades digitally.’ Born
in South Africa, Kagan moved to New
Zealand and is now living in the US. He is
very active on social media. In his pod-
cast series, Born Scrappy, he chats with
scrap traders from all over the world
about the does and don’ts and the joys
of trading in scrap.
Karima Scarpetta
(Colombia)
This year’s Top 100 contains a
handful of traders and Scarpetta is one of
them. She has spent 15 years in scrap
metal, currently working for commodity
trading firm Marex. Based in Mexico City,
Scarpetta covers South America, sourcing
scrap from Brazil, Honduras, Nicaragua,
Mexico, and Colombia and selling to cus-
tomers in Asia.
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, her career has
taken her around the globe, with stops in
Belgium, Peru, the UK and Chile. ‘This
job takes you anywhere.’ Scarpetta
thrives on relationships, which are at the
heart of scrap trading. ‘At the end of the
day, we all do much the same, so strong
connections make the difference. Luckily,
I love that part of my work.’
Dhawal Shah (India)
A partner at scrap metal trade firm
Metco India, Shah is another true
ambassador for his country and its recycling sector
(like Top 100 #1 Sanjay Mehta). In 2024 Shah
joined Recycling International as a columnist. We
believe his updates and insights in ‘Message from
Mumbai’ help to better understand India.
‘Recycling activity is at the helm of bringing socio-
economic transformation.’
One of things he loves about his work is dealing
with ‘super crazy markets and doing business in 40
different countries – all very exciting.’
Shah is vice-president of the Metal Recycling
Association of India, serves on the metals commit-
tee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry and, since May 2023, has
been BIR’s treasurer.
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John Shegerian (USA)
This entrepreneur from Fresno, California, campaigns for more
sustainable and innovative e-scrap recycling. Shegerian has a
weekly podcast called ‘Impact’ and is frequently asked to speak at confer-
ences, notably on the topics of cybercrime security. He built Electronic
Recyclers International (ERI) from a start-up in the early part of the century
into one of the biggest electronics recycling companies in the world with
eight facilities in the US and a network of 100 sites in more than 46 coun-
tries. Shegerian recently launched an artificial intelligence-driven system at
its operation in Flower Mound, Texas. The solution called SOAR uses ERI’s
optical sorting technology to process products such as desktop computers,
laptops and smaller devices.
Jean-Philippe Fusier (France)
Fusier is mostly known as a recycling
machinery producer operating under
the same MTB brand name. But, as with most
equipment suppliers, MTB began as a scrap recy-
cler and today manufacturing and scrap recycling
go firmly hand-in -hand. Fusier is a visionary and
innovative recycler, rather than being motivated
solely by a desire to make money. What drives him
is creating a healthy environment for future gener-
ations and securing the future of his company.
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