Longtime paper industry veteran announces retirement

After more than 45 years in the recovered paper trading business, George Chen, president of Clifton, New Jersey-based G&T Trading International Corp., has announced his retirement, according to a news release from the Washington-based Recycled Materials Association’s (ReMA’s) Paper Stock Industries (PSI) chapter.

Chen began his career in 1979 as a fiber procurement manager with Cheng Loong Corp., a corrugated linerboard manufacturer in Taiwan. He initially was based in Taiwan before the company relocated him to the United States in 1982 to try to find new U.S.-based recovered paper suppliers, and Chen and his wife, Tammy, settled in New Jersey in 1986.

Chen retired from Cheng Loong in 1997, but that same year, he started G&T Trading International Corp., a paper scrap brokerage business.

 “When I made up my mind to retire, I planned on opening G&T Trading immediately,” he told Recycling Today in 2021. “I love international trade businesses, and with my 18 years of experience, I had made a lot of friends in the recycling industry who really supported me. I thought, I can build my own company [and] take a risk and chance.”

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According to ReMA, over the next 27 years, his “tireless work ethic and passion for the business” earned him the respect of his peers and partners as well as the entire paper recycling industry.

“His leadership, strategic insight and unwavering commitment have been instrumental in guiding the company through its many milestones,” G&T Trading tells ReMA.

Throughout his career, Chen was active in the PSI Chapter of ReMA, including serving as president from 2008-2010. Despite the challenging economic conditions of that time, ReMA says Chen helped PSI increase its membership and led its review of the recovered paper specifications in ReMA’s “Scrap Specifications Circular.”

He also was active in the New Jersey Paper Recycling Association, serving as president for 27 years.

“His legacy will continue to resonate with all who had the privilege of working with him,” G&T Trading says.

For more on Chen’s career in the paper recycling industry, read “Everyone’s friend” from the June 2021 issue of Recycling Today.