26 November 2015
With only a backpack and a train ticket he arrived in
Rotterdam in the year 2000. His mission: to start up ACN
(Europe) to supply the Nine Dragons Paper mills in China.
Fifteen years later, Texas-born Wade Schuetzeberg heads
one of the world’s biggest recovered paper exporting com-
panies. Recycling International talks with Schuetzeberg
about managing growth, China’s economy and, of course,
the quality issue. ‘Quality is the first and last discussion
we have in terms of selecting suppliers,’ he asserts.
I N T E R V I E W By Martijn Reintjes
Not a banking man, a paper man
Born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, Wade Schuetzeberg studied finance and
business economics at Texas Tech University. ‘After I finished my studies, I
thought I would go into banking, but quickly learned that was not the career
for me – too many egos and too long a ladder to climb unless you were on
Wall Street,’ says the 46-year-old.
Through a good friend, he was able to secure an interview with US-based
Paper Recycling International, a joint venture between Waste Management,
Inc. and Stone Container Corp. ‘Based in Atlanta, I trained in US-European
exports for two years and then went on to take a domestic marketing role
in Chicago and further in Seattle where I got into Far East export sales,’ he
recalls. In 1999, he moved to the Netherlands to set up ACN (Europe).
Schuetzeberg is a fourth-generation immigrant from Germany and Scotland.
‘We have strong traditions in my family, such as the German family reunion
on my dad’s side just outside of Austin,’ he says. ‘We celebrated our 70th
reunion this year with over 320 family members joining in for our camping
weekend along the San Marcos river.’
Wade Schuetzeberg of recovered paper exporter ACN (Europe):
‘Nothing is bought until something is sold’
