The Recycling Partnership announces board of directors

The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, has announced its new board of directors, saying the newly elected board brings sustainability and industry knowledge and reach, paired with business expertise to advance the nation toward a circular economy.

The Recycling Partnership is a national nonprofit that guides corporate funding to improve recycling results in communities across America. The partnership reports that it is the only organization in the country that engages the full recycling supply chain, from the corporations that manufacture products and packaging to local governments charged with recycling to industry end markets, haulers, material recovery facilities and converters.

Fifteen industry leaders were elected to serve on The Recycling Partnership’s board of directors. The newly elected directors include Steve Alexander (CEO and president, Association of Plastic Recyclers), Viviana Alvarez (head of sustainability, Unilever North America), Derric Brown (vice president of sustainability, Carton Council), Maria Burquest (corporate communications-citizenship, Procter & Gamble), Kim Carswell (director of packaging, Target), Keith Christman (acting vice president of the Plastics Division, American Chemistry Council), David Clark (vice president of sustainability, Amcor), Nicole Collier (director of government affairs, Nestle), Megan Daum (vice president of sustainability, American Beverage Association), Scott DeFife (president, Glass Packaging Institute), Aimee Gregg (vice president and general manager, Recycling and Recovered Fiber, International Paper), Brian Hawkinson (executive director of recovered fiber, American Forest & Paper Association), Bruce Karas(vice president of environment and safety, Coca-Cola North America), Terese Kietzer (senior manager of sustainability, Amazon) and Monique Oxender (chief sustainability officer, Keurig Dr Pepper).

At the first board of directors meeting, an executive committee also was appointed:

• Chairwoman Carswell;
• Vice Chairman Clark;
• Vice Chairwoman Oxender;
• Treasurer Alexander; and
• Secretary Brown.

“I am delighted and honored to serve as Board chair and work with this new team,” says Carswell. “The Recycling Partnership is a national leader in driving positive system change on recycling and bringing a circular economy to life in the U.S. This new board has the talent, expertise and dedication to drive lasting change.”

According to the Recycling Partnership, since 2014, the nonprofit change agent estimates it diverted 230 million pounds of new recyclables from landfills, saved 465 million gallons of water, avoided more than 250,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases and driven significant reductions in targeted recycling contamination rates.

“We’re grateful for the service of our board in helping The Recycling Partnership to advance the U.S. circular economy,” says Keefe Harrison, CEO of The Recycling Partnership. “As a mission-driven nonprofit, our board joins us in ensuring that the production of goods and the protection of the planet are not at odds. It’s a big task, one that we take seriously, and it can only be delivered by engaging companies, communities and elected officials toward that common goal.”