Personnel Notes

BHS appoints chief technology officer

Bulk Handling Systems (BHS), Eugene, Oregon, has promoted Thomas Brooks to chief technology officer (CTO). He previously served as director of technology and product development at BHS.

Since joining BHS, Brooks has led the redesign of National Recovery Technologies’ (NRT’s) optical sorters, managed the creation of BHS’ Controls & Intelligence division and led BHS’ artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics technology, Max-AI. Recent developments include integrating Max-AI technology into NRT optical sorters, combining AI with color and near-infrared optical detectors to make enhanced sorting configurations possible, according to the company.

As CTO, Brooks will focus on leading new technology and product development efforts across the organization, which includes BHS and Max-AI as well as the company’s Nihot, NRT and Zero Waste Energy subsidiaries.

“Thomas is an exceptional leader and does an excellent job of bringing to market innovative technology that’s in line with our corporate vision,” says BHS CEO Steve Miller. “The progress he’s made with Max, our optical sorters and our system control and intelligence solutions are advances that are paying real dividends.”

“I have the pleasure of working with a tremendous team—co-workers that deeply care about performance and achieving results for our customers and for a leadership team that is forward-looking and invests heavily in our technology,” Brooks says.

Amp Robotics adds executives

Amp Robotics Corp., a Denver-based company focused on developing artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics technologies for the waste and recycling industries, has hired several people to its leadership team.

Jeff Loebbaka has joined Amp as its chief commercial officer. Loebbaka will lead the strategic expansion of Amp’s business globally.

Throughout much of his career, he has led marketing, sales, product and service functions at venture-backed startups and S&P 500 technology companies. Most recently, Loebbaka served as executive vice president of global sales for California-based Poly, where he led the Plantronics and Polycom postmerger go-to-market strategy and integration efforts to build a foundation for future growth. He also led sales and go-to-market teams for California-based Enphase as it grew from a late-stage startup to a $350 million global business. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Seagate Technology, Cupertino, California. He started his career at Cupertino-based Apple.

Amp also added Mike Krings as vice president of operations. Krings will focus on scaling the business to meet demand and servicing Amp’s growing fleet of installations and customer base.

He spent the last 11 years at Denmark-based Vestas Wind Systems, most recently as vice president and general manager, overseeing the company’s North American manufacturing operations of large-scale wind turbines and more than 1,100 employees. Prior to his time at Vestas, Krings spent 11 years in various leadership roles, including global operations, quality, supply chain management and new product introduction, with Denver-based Advanced Energy Industries, a company that designs and manufactures thin film etch and deposition equipment used in semiconductor and solar applications.

With Krings joining Amp, the company’s Robb Espinosa will assume a new role as vice president of facility development. He will be responsible for managing a new development effort around integrating the company’s technology throughout recycling facilities’ operations.

Amp has hired Lisa James as director of enterprise sales. James has more than 15 years of experience in sustainability, recycling, reuse and waste management.

Prior to joining Amp, she held various strategic account management roles at Waste Management, Houston. James most recently served as national account specialist for recycling and diversion, working with Fortune 500 companies, focusing on consumer packaged goods leaders, where she directed major recycling, diversion and sustainability opportunities with national accounts and their locations. Prior to her time at Waste Management, she was in sales at Atlanta-based Unisource Worldwide, a leader in paper and packaging supplies.

Amp also hired Emilie Kintner to lead the company’s talent and culture, including its efforts to attract and retain top Colorado tech talent. She most recently served as vice president of people and culture for Denver-based Galvanize, a software engineering and data science boot camp and co-working space.

Midland Davis adds account manager to brokerage team

Midland Davis Corp., Moline, Illinois, has appointed Lisa Bailey to serve as a senior account manager on its brokerage team, which handles paper and plastics. Bailey comes to the company with 33 years of industry experience. Midland Davis has brokerage offices in Moline, St. Louis, Milwaukee and in St. Catharines, Ontario. With the addition of Bailey to the company’s brokerage team, Midland adds a brokerage office in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

“We have a great team of people with a lot of experience,” Leonard Zeid, president of the brokerage division at Midland Davis tells Recycling Today regarding the company’s brokerage division, noting that its employees have many years of industry experience. (For a profile on Midland Davis, turn to page 40 of the print edition or click here.)

DS Smith appoints sales director for paper in Europe and North America

DS Smith, London, has appointed Johan van Baarle sales director of its Paper Division, reporting to Niels Flierman, managing director for Paper.

Van Baarle joins DS Smith from Cargill, the global food, agricultural, finance and industrial products provider, where he has worked since 2003. During his time at Cargill, Van Baarle held a series of senior customer-focused and sales manager roles. Most recently, he was sales director of global accounts in Cargill’s Cocoa & Chocolate division based in the Netherlands. Van Baarle will be tasked with further growing DS Smith’s paper sales across Europe and the U.S. and managing the service portfolio to customers.

“I look forward to sharing my experience with the global teams to focus on continued growth by understanding and meeting the demands of our customers … towards lighter but stronger paper that is both innovative and sustainable in production and product,” Van Baarle says.

“I welcome Johan to the team and look forward to him bringing some of his extensive experience to the role,” Flierman says. “He joins at an exciting time as DS Smith, along with the whole paper packaging sector, has an opportunity to play a huge role in replacing hard-to-recycle and single-use plastics. Making sure we can provide the right packaging papers to our customers is a key part of ensuring we realize that opportunity.”

JSW Steel USA names new CEO

India-based JSW Steel and its United States-based subsidiaries, JSW Steel (USA) Inc. and JSW Steel USA Ohio Inc., have appointed Mark Bush CEO of U.S. operations. Bush succeeds John Hritz, who will continue serving on JSW company boards, according to the firm.

Bush joins JSW Steel USA from Sweden-based specialty steelmaker SSAB, where he was heading the southern business team for the company’s North America operations in Houston. At JSW Steel USA, he will be based in Houston and operate out of Baytown, Texas, the company says.

Bush will lead business units that produce steel slabs, coils, pipe and plate at scrap-fed electric arc furnace mills in Baytown and in Mingo Junction, Ohio. The mill in Ohio is currently idle.