Page 45 from: The 2022 Top 100 issue!

45recyclinginternational.com | July/August | 2022

Caroline Craenhals (Belgium)
Craenhals leads the family business, which has its headquarters
in Antwerp, and operates 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.’ 2022 marks an important
milestone for the recycler as the fourth generation company celebrates its
100th anniversary. ‘Many things have been thrown at recyclers over the last
few decades alone: economic crashes, wars, protectionism, geopolitical
games, ever more ambitious rules. It’s a long list and we overcame it all. I
think it shows how resilient and vital our sector is. This calls for a nice glass
of champagne, doesn’t it?’

Vipan Garg (India)
A mature car recycling sector in India could
generate EUR 5.7 billion per year, accord-

ing to entrepreneur and businessman Vipan Garg. In
2019 he launched the country’s first car shredder in
the state of Punjab. B Lal Steel Shredding is now look-
ing to expand to other parts of India.
‘It is our ambition to expand our presence across vari-
ous cities once the Punjab shredder runs at full capac-
ity.’ Garg expects a large number of old vehicles to
pour in for recycling within the next couple of years.
When that happens, there will be a need for more
shredders at different locations and we will be
expanding accordingly. ‘It is my vision and dream to
be present in every major city in India in the future
and to recycle as many vehicles as possible.’

Mike Biddle (USA/UK)
The story of Biddle and Evok Innovations
starts at his home – or rather his garage –

in California in 1992. It was there he launched MBA
Polymers which mushroomed into a state-of-the-art
production unit in China with a processing capacity
of 40 000 tonnes per annum (2006), a 50 000
tonnes per year recycling plant in Austria (2007)
and one in the UK (2010). ‘MBA has kept well over
250 000 tonnes of plastics out of landfill or the
oceans – or from going up in smoke.’

Lim Teck Siang
(Singapore)
Lim operates a metals and

wood recycling company, the Kim Hock
Corporation, which is claimed to have
Singapore’s only shredder, a 4 000 tonne
HP Harris machine. The most interesting
part of the company’s operations is a bio-
waste plant that provides energy for the
recycling machines, material handlers and
electricity in the office building. A con-
stant inflow of green waste from gardens,
parks and trees in the tropical island state
is used to heat the incinerator. Lim, who
has a technical background and educa-
tion, developed the plant himself.

Dhawal Shah (India)
‘Recycling is good karma.’ A
partner at scrap metal trade

firm Metco, Shah is a true ambassador for
his country and its recycling sector.
Talking with this commerce graduate from
Mumbai helps to better understand India.
‘We have to undo decades of inefficiency
and corruption but the good days will
come. This is all work in progress. I think
recycling activity is at helm of bringing
socio-economic transformation.’
What does he love about his job? ‘Skilled
human hands and modern machines like
heavy media separators and sensors
working in harmony give me an adrena-
line rush. Beyond that, dealing with super
crazy markets and doing business in 40
different countries is also very exciting.’
Shah is vice-president of the Metal
Recycling Association of India, serves on
the metals committee of the Federation
of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry and is also divisional president
for non-ferrous at BIR.

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Shelley Padnos (USA)
Padnos has been a well-known name in
the American scrap business for almost

four decades. Her family company, based in
Holland, Michigan, first opened its doors in 1984
and she is proud it now spans four generations.
‘We have 20 locations where we treat metals,
paper, plastics and e-scrap and operate 13 recy-
cling centres throughout Michigan where the pub-
lic and small businesses can recycle their scrap,
including used electronics, for quick payment.’ This
year, in recognition of her ongoing contributions to
the sector, the Institute of Scrap Recycling
Industries awarded Padnos its Lifetime
Achievement Award. During the awards ceremony
she called on to fellow recyclers to bring more
diversity to the sector: ‘We can still use a lot more
of that. Hire somebody who does not look like you
and our industry will be better off.’

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