Lifetime achievement honour for CEO Jane Stephenson

Resource Futures’ Chief Executive Officer, Jane Stephenson MBE, was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at MRW’s National Recycling Awards this week. She was presented with the award at a glittering ceremony held at the Lancaster London Hotel on 3rd July.

Jane, who has played a key role in the recycling industry since the early 80s, was delighted to receive the award, which recognises her achievements both as a leader in the environmental business sector   for over 25 years and in pioneering innovative waste reduction, reuse and recycling projects.

“I was surprised and absolutely delighted to receive this award from my peers and colleagues,” said Jane. “The only thing I would like to say is that I don’t feel my life’s work is over just yet! To me, it seems as though our society is on the cusp of even more significant changes to the way that resources are managed, and I intend to be very much a part of that.”

Jane Stephenson has been at the helm of Resource Futures since its inception in 2006. Before that, she was Executive Director of The Recycling Consortium and held various posts at Avon Friends of the Earth, which instigated recycling collections in Bristol in the 1980s.

“I will continue to engage with an industry that needs to respond to growing concerns about the scarcity of resources,” she said. “Resource Futures is a member of the Resource Association - the new trade body for the reprocessing and recycling industries - and we intend to support them. I see my role as working in partnership with other leaders in the public, private and third sectors to improve resource management by making use of our expertise in waste data, collections and HWRCs, reuse and public engagement.”

Resource Futures is currently working on a number of nationally significant projects including: best practice guidance for Household Waste Recycling Centres – 15 years after the first National Assessment of Civic Amenity Sites (NACAS) report, research on the reuse market and reviewing national waste composition datasets. And the future looks bright, both for Jane and the business, which delivered record profits last year and is seeking to recruit at Consultant and Senior Consultant levels.