Let’s hear it for the plastics recycling pioneers!

Over a dozen plastics and rubber recyclers are part of our annual TOP 100 this year. I’d like to highlight some here today.

#18 Asmipudin Mohd Ali Jinnah (Malaysia)

The ceo of Bridge Fields Resources (BFR) is proud of his company’s patented non-toxic, low-heat technology treatment for recycling rubber and capitalises on its transparency and accreditation to win over major brands. BFR’s clients include Decathlon and Timberland which uses up to 54% of recycled latex in its shoes. ‘Brand owners want a product that has been vetted and certified by third party consultants with a certification body that represents their core values. You don’t want to go to a place where they use child labour or illegal foreign workers or any other issues that can damage a brand. Doing the right thing is always important.’

BFR delivers two recycled materials based on recovered latex – White Latex Reclaim and Black Latex Reclaim – along with a hybrid material made from latex and tyres. The company also produces reclaimed synthetic rubber from nitrile, butyl and EPDM latexes.

Check the full list here >>

#21 Twan Hesselmans (The Netherlands)

Managing director of plastics player Broeckx Plastics, Hesselmans is an ambitious and hopeful voice in an industry marked by anxiety. With good reason: the family owned business has opened a 13.5 tonnes per hour pre-sorting facility next to its headquarters in Esbeek – meaning over 30 000 tonnes of plastics per annum. The expansion will boost European processing capacity before EU scrap exports are restricted in 2026. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) packaging makes up two-thirds of its business.

‘Our aim is not to be the biggest in the game across all plastics but we do want to be the best when it comes to LDPE.’ Simply sorting plastics by colour and material isn’t enough to be competitive these days. ‘Thanks to our new pre-sorting hub, we can now sort by melt flow index, yielding five different categories of LDPE foil.’

Another advantage is that the new process allows producers to include 50% recycled content, a big jump from the 20% with existing technology.

#30 Becci Henderson (UK)

Proof that the recycling industry is full of colourful individuals, this PhD student at the University of Portsmouth examines plastic waste generated by those attending scenes of crime. Henderson has 23 years of experience as a CSI expert and is also a member of the Revolution Plastics Institute helping to reduce plastic pollution. In 2024, she won a prestigious Churchill Fellowship grant to further her research.

‘I am visiting Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Singapore to explore more sustainable practices. There has been a dramatic increase in single-use plastic waste at crime scenes.’ Products such as swabs, exhibit bags, PPE, wipes and drop sheets are the main culprits. Henderson has found up to 2kg of plastic waste at a single site, much of it unopened and unused, costing EUR 90 to replace.

#41 Wang Lai Xing (Malaysia)

Entrepreneur and owner of TSP3G, a fast-growing pioneer based near Kuala Lumpur, handling some 7 500 tonnes of recovered paper and 600 tonnes of plastics per month. TSP3G was founded in 2018, following China’s National Sword and Green Fence import restriction policies, which banned low quality paper and plastic scrap from entering the country.

For Xing and his business partners it was a wake-up call. From one day to the next they could not ship to or recycle certain materials in China, forcing them and many fellow recyclers to find an alternative. Xing, who has been active in recycling for 25 years, didn’t take much time in deciding to move his recycling capacity from China to Malaysia. Eight years on, the two Malaysian plants are running overtime. ‘Looking back, moving to Malaysia was a wise decision.’

#50 Le Ahn (Vietnam)

Director of plastics recycler Duytan Recycling, subsidiary of plastics producer Duytan Group, the biggest plastics producer in the country. ‘We process around 100 000 tonnes of plastics a year and collaborate with major brands like Pepsi-Cola, Nestlé and Unilever,’ says Ahn, who also serves as the head of the Vietnam Waste Recycling Association’s plastics division.

He is particularly proud that Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology has certified Duytan Recycling, which operates several bottle-to-bottle plants, as a ‘high-tech recycler’ in 2024. ‘This helps dispel the general idea that recycled plastics cannot be good quality,’ Ahn argues. In recent years, a growing portion of the food-grade plastic pellets has been exported to the US and Europe. With around 50% shipped to America, Duytan is currently setting up a recycling plant in California.

#62 Max Craipeau (Singapore)

These are difficult times for plastics recyclers and Craipeau is no exception. But the energetic Singapore-based Frenchman is not the type of person and entrepreneur to throw in the towel. The ceo of Greencore continues his mission to bring plastics recycling in Southeast Asia to the next level. Greencore’s facility near Indonesia’s plastics hub Surabaya on east Java has been in operation for eight years and new investments in innovation are underway.

Craipeau is involved in in several other projects, including the roll out of PET collection systems for supermarkets in Vietnam.