Personnel notes

Sonoco elects Timken CEO to its board of directors

The global packaging company Sonoco, Hartsville, South Carolina, has elected Richard Kyle to its board of directors. Kyle is president, CEO and board member of The Timken Co., a steel company headquartered in North Canton, Ohio.

Harris DeLoach Jr., executive chairman of Sonoco’s board of directors, says, “We’re very pleased to have Rich join our board. He brings tested executive leadership along with strong manufacturing and technical expertise working with diversified markets around the world, which is extremely important to Sonoco’s global consumer, industrial and protective solutions businesses.”

Vecoplan LLC announces personnel changes

Vecoplan LLC, Archdale, North Carolina, has promoted Bob Gilmore as its new managing director and chief sales officer (CSO). Vecoplan also has added Dana Darley as its plastics division national sales manager.

Gilmore’s responsibilities as CSO will include supervising all internal and external sales staff as well as overseeing the expansion of Vecoplan’s markets. He also joins Len Beusse, the company’s managing director/chief operating officer, on the strategic planning team, which is charged with positioning Vecoplan for sustainable, long-term growth.

Vecoplan promoted Gilmore in conjunction with founding member Marty Kennedy’s decision to retire. Kennedy, formerly executive vice president of Vecoplan, was responsible for overseeing sales at the company. He will continue working with Vecoplan in a consulting capacity during the transition.

Gilmore’s professional background includes serving as vice president and general manager of GAI Recycling, a privately held plastics brokering company, prior to joining Vecoplan in 1998.

As plastics division sales manager, in addition to overseeing the plastics division sales team and its external network of plastics sales representatives, Darley will be the primary liaison between customers and other Vecoplan departments, such as R&D and marketing.

He will communicate technical challenges to Vecoplan’s R&D engineering staff and assist in developing solutions, the company says. Darley also will play a role in coordinating the introduction of new plastics recycling technologies with Vecoplan’s marketing department. In 2015 these products include the V-Eco plastics shredder and the HydroDyn plastics washing line.

“Dana’s work experience and educational background were key reasons that we wanted him on our team,” Gilmore says. “He’s an engineer, has designed and developed auxiliary equipment and has over 30 years of practical experience in sales, marketing and management—all in the plastics industry. This background uniquely equips Dana to excel in his new responsibilities.”

Prior to joining Vecoplan, Darley served six years as vice president and general manager of Process Control Corp., a supplier of auxiliary equipment to the plastics processing industry. In 2004 he founded Extrusion Auxiliary Services, operating the technical services and plastics auxiliary equipment sales business as its president. His other work experience within the plastics industry includes stints as vice president of sales and marketing and then president of Kreyenborg Industries; product and regional sales manager at Maag Pump Systems Textron; and product manager, extrusion and compounding, with the Fluid Systems Division of Luwa Corp.

Darley is a senior member of the Society of Plastics Engineers. He also has been awarded a patent pertaining to gravimetric control of gear pump systems, has been published and has been a speaker at plastics industry technical conferences, Vecoplan reports.

Vecoplan provides design, engineering, manufacture, installation, commissioning, training and parts and service for processing systems used in materials recovery, recycling, waste-to-energy and biomass facilities around the world.

Sims Recycling Solutions adds to staff

Sims Recycling Solutions, a West Chicago, Illinois-based electronics recycling company, has added Ping Yi to its international business development staff. Ping has more than 20 years of experience in the industry. Sims Recycling Solutions adds that she also has a track record of leadership in the global IT asset disposal (ITAD) sector and her role will focus on expanding the company’s ITAD offerings throughout Asia.

“As the world’s leading recycler with the most established ITAD network, Sims offers a consistent service to multinational organizations seeking a solution to managing end-of-life assets on a global scale,” says Sean Magann, vice president of Sims Recycling Solutions. “We look forward to advancing these services to a new level with the help of Ping Yi, as her previous industry experience in Asia complements her current role with Sims, which will continue APAC (Asia-Pacific) growth and operations.”

Sims Recycling Solutions, a business unit of Sims Metal Management Ltd., with headquarters in New York and Sydney, is a global leader in electronics reuse and recycling, offering ITAD and mobile device refurbishment services. Sims provides disposition services for all types of retired electronic equipment to local, national and global customers in every business sector including data centers, health care, financial service and technical organizations.

LKQ announces management changes

Auto dismantling and recycling company LKQ Corp., headquartered in Chicago, has named John Quinn executive vice president, chief financial officer, managing director and CEO of its European operations. Dominick Zarcone succeeds Quinn as executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO).

With the company’s steady growth in its European operations over the past several years, LKQ says it reached out to Quinn to head the operations. The company cites Quinn’s extensive understanding of LKQ’s business, his financial acumen and his past experience working in the European markets as reasons for choosing him for the position.

New LKQ executive vice president and CFO Zarcone was with the investment bank Robert W. Baird since 1995, most recently serving as its managing director and CFO. Zarcone also was the senior member of Baird’s team that managed LKQ’s initial public offering in 2003. Since then Zarcone has maintained a close affiliation with LKQ and the industry, giving him a significant knowledge base for his new role, says Joseph Holsten, chairman of LKQ.

“I am very pleased to announce these executive positions,” Holsten says. “This is a win-win for the company. John is an ideal candidate to manage our important European operations. Importantly, our global finance department, which John so effectively developed during his tenure as our CFO, will not miss a beat with Nick taking over the CFO duties,” he adds.

Robert Wagman, LKQ president and CEO, adds, “I believe that we have a very impressive management team to run our company. I look forward to continuing to work with John on our European operations and welcoming Nick as a key member of the LKQ team.”

Graham Waste Services hires veteran sales representative

Graham Waste Services has hired Stew Curran as a sales associate of the family-owned and operated waste management company. Curran will be based out of the company’s Cohasset, Massachusetts, office, and will service the eastern Massachusetts territory.

Over the past 24 years, Curran has worked in sales and sales management for regional and national waste and recycling companies throughout the greater Boston area. He has developed a reputation for his industry knowledge and customer service skills, according to the company.

Most recently, Curran served as a senior account manager and sales director at Mass Hauling & Capital Paper Recycling. His career experience includes designing and implementing sustainability and diversion plans for property managers throughout greater Boston as well as providing oversight on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) audits for clients.

Curran will take on many tasks in his new role as a sales associate for Graham Waste Services, according to the company. One initiative he will undertake will be to proactively assist the company’s existing client base in decreasing generated waste with improvements in their diversion rates stemming from better planning and through recycling. Curran also will help construction and commercial clients to achieve LEED certification in addition to developing Graham’s service offerings to new clients.

“The family-owned aspect of the company combined with their strong reputation for customer service makes Graham a unique place to work,” says Curran. “I’m proud to join their team.”

Graham Waste Services specializes in offering roll-off Dumpster rentals and has locations in Cohasset, Brockton, Newton, Sandwich, Rockland, Abington and Everett, Massachusetts, with storage yards throughout the eastern Massachusetts region. The company caters largely to the construction and commercial waste sectors and offers residential waste services on Massachusetts’ South Shore.

“We are very excited and fortunate to have Stew join our team,” says Lynne Schwandt, owner of Graham Waste Services. “He comes with a sales background that is one of the most impressive in the industry, has strong local roots within our territory area and will certainly be a great complement to our team.”

Fox River announces two new hires

Fox River Fiber, a privately owned deinking pulp facility in De Pere, Wisconsin, has announced two personnel appointments.

John Lavery has joined the company as sales manager for deinked pulp, while Brian Watermolen has been named supply chain manager.

Watermolen will be responsible for leading the paper company’s procurement, logistics and customer service functions.

He previously worked for Kimberly-Clark and, over his 16 years at that company, held roles in progressive sourcing, purchasing and management.

Lavery has more than 20 years of sales and management experience.

Both men will serve on Fox River Fiber’s leadership team, where Watermolen will develop optimization strategies and provide support, innovation and processes necessary to implement the company’s strategies. Lavery will be responsible for facilitating the company’s deinked pulp sales growth through relationships with existing customers and new business development.