Of the 31 years that UK recycling body Recoup (Peterborough; www.recoup.org) has existed, Mike Barney has been at the helm for 28 of them, and he is now retiring from his position as chairman. Barney is being succeeded by Jim Armstrong, who brings 35 years of experience in the plastics recycling industry to the table. Armstrong is a member of the management committee of Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu) and a committee member of the British Plastics Federation’s (BPF, London; www.bpf.co.uk) recycling group.

About his new position, Armstrong said, “I am delighted to be elected chair of Recoup, whose expertise and teamwork approach have made it one of the most respected advisors on plastic recycling. We are now more relevant than ever given the challenge of increasing targets for collection, coupled with the urgent need for additional UK processing capacity.”

Glyn Staines, who has been a trustee with Recoup for over three years, is taking over the position of vice-chairman. Recoup recently also announced that its “Plastics Recycling and Resources” conference will be held on 30 September 2021, registrations for which are already open.