Page 42 from: Recycling International November/December issue 2024
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A U T H O R S Kirstin Linnenkoper, Martijn Reintjes
Stephan Karle (Germany)
An advocate of handling scrap as locally as possible, Karle leads
the Karle Recycling business of Stuttgart in Germany’s south-
west. On behalf of steel recyclers body BDSV, he has launched a study to
map the fast-growing number of scrap fires related to lithium batteries that
are causing headaches across the German scrap scene. The study has been
designed to provide recyclers tools for preventing fires. Karle, too, has
been hit by fires ‘many, many times’ with the company spending a fortune
on fire protection and detection.
Bob Daviduk (USA)
Daviduk stood at the cradle of a revolu-
tionary bottle-to-bottle concept. In
2018, rPlanet Earth opened a ‘one of a kind’ inte-
grated PET bottle and food packaging recycling
plant in Vernon, Los Angeles. The 28 000 m2 facili-
ty has proved a major boost for plastics recycling
capacity in southern California. More than US$ 100
million was invested in smart technology for the
construction and design of the site, which includes
earthquake-proof foundations. A second facility
was built in 2021, also in LA, and Daviduk has
plans for other facilities in the US, all at least as
big as the LA plant. Or, as rPlanet Earth puts it:
‘90% of the plastic is not recycled. Let’s change
that together’.
Tom Bird (UK)
Since handing over the BIR presidency
to Susie Burrage in May 2023, Bird has
been fully back in the scrap business as executive
chairman at metal recycler Enicor. A hard-working,
dedicated trader and entrepreneur, Bird preaches
a ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ approach. No alco-
hol, and every working day starts with an early
morning run, no matter where he is. Even in
Singapore, during BIR’s latest Autumn convention,
he ran in a challenging 31C and high humidity. ‘All
set up for day one of the conference’, he shared
with his followers on LinkedIn.
Craig Thompson (UK)
In 2017 this e-scrap plastics recycling
expert antcipated that China’s scrap
import restriction would have a huge impact on
recycling businesses across Europe and North
America. ‘We need to press the reset button as
end markets for e-scrap plastics are changing for-
ever,’ he warned. Over the past ten years,
Thompson has worked with many recyclers in
Europe, Canada and the USA on outlets for their
e-scrap plastics before launching Areera, claimed
to be the UK’s most advanced automated robotic
recycling facility for flat panel displays and com-
puters and the x-ray separation of electronics and
e-scrap plastics.
John van den Heuvel (The
Netherlands)
Van den Heuvel is ceo of recovered
paper recycler Peute. In 2022 the company was
taken over by Thai packaging giant SCGP, secur-
ing a supply of one million tonnes of paper. Van
den Heuvel led Peute through the acquisition
while also heading the move to a new facility at
Alblasserdam near Rotterdam, doubling its
capacity. The official opening was in November
2023. Van de Heuvel recently announced to add
a multi-million-euro plastics recycling plant next to the paper facility. ‘We’re
no longer solely a scrap passing through location.’
Daniela La
Porta (Italy
Second generation
to lead Elle-Elle, an Italian
recycling business company
built on solid family entrepre-
neurship. Based near Cesena
on Italy’s Adriatic Coast, Elle-
Elle is a modern, medium-size
recycler handling electric
motors, copper and aluminium. In the coming decade, recyclers in general
and Elle-Elle in particular will have to continue investing in sustainable
operations and smarter technology. ‘It’s the only logical path to follow if we
want this sector to survive,’ Daniela stresses. Asked for the main lesson she
has learned from her father and company founder, she replies: ‘His work
ethic and his passion for the job: always give your best. Scrap is in my
blood and I love it, probably thanks to him.’
Julia Ettinger (Belgium)
Ettinger, previously Blees, is the
secretary general of EuRIC, based
on Brussels. She was appointed in April of
2024, following various other roles at the
organisation since 2018. Blees holds a master’s
in law, which gives her a unique perspective
on the rapidly changing legal landscape recy-
clers work within. She recently travelled to
Kuala Lumpur to speak at the Pulp & Paper
Summit on the ‘far-reaching consequences’ of
the EU Waste Shipments Regulation for non-
OECD countries. Blees and her team wrote to
the members of the EU Parliament to advise
against a preferred method for calculating
recycled content in plastic bottles under the
Single-Use Plastics Directive. She is also using
her platform to help accelerate textiles recy-
cling best practices at this ‘crucial’ time for the textiles value chain.
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Doug Kramer (USA)
2024 was a tough year for the Kramer scrap metal family busi-
ness. In April, Doug’s father Stanley, the founder of Los Angeles-
based Kramer Metals passed away on his way back home from the ReMA
Convention & Expo in Las Vegas. Hours before he died, father, son and
grandson had visited the RI booth (picture). Stanley has been a big exam-
ple for Doug, and ‘we still miss him every day.’
The owner of Kramer Metals and co-owner of Spectrum Alloys, and a for-
mer ReMA chair, Doug Kramer is an experienced scrap recycler. At confer-
ences he never minces his words and speaks easily on hot topics.
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