The Washington-based Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) has announced its newly elected executive committee and board of directors for 2022. Roxanne Spiekerman of PreZero US has been elected chair for the upcoming year, with Greg Janson of Granite Peak Plastics and Eric Targgart of Custom Polymers serving as vice chair and treasurer, respectively.
The APR membership elected the following new members to the board for three-year terms: Nicole Janssen of Denton Plastics, Maite Quinn-Richards of Closed Loop Partners and Tom Frantz of Technimark.
Those three join APR’s existing board members: John Caturano of Nestlé, Dawn Gaines of Mohawk Industries, Tony Moucachen of Merlin Plastics, Scott Saunders of KW Plastics and Julie Zaniewski of Dow.
“APR is pleased to elect a board that represents a variety of roles within the value chain with the direct knowledge and experience to respond aggressively to industry challenges,” says Steve Alexander, president and CEO of APR. “We greatly appreciate their commitment to the success of plastics recycling and lead our industry in these challenging times.”
APR board priorities for the coming year have been identified as “ensuring the needs of the plastics recycling industry are considered on Capitol Hill and across the states; working with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on updates to the Green Guides; maintaining APR’s role as a global leader in design, testing and recyclability requirements; as well as expansion of the APR Design Guide for Plastics Recyclability and Training Programs.”
Spiekerman says, “The challenges our industry faces will require rapid mobilization, and this team is aligned and ready to act. It’s time to make a meaningful and verifiable impact on the plastics pollution problem. This includes a collective effort from consumers, brands, the recycling industry, as well as the local, state and federal governments.”
She adds, “I believe we should measure success through material demand growth, virgin material disruption and verifiable metrics associated with recyclability, recycling and recycled content. This also includes rethinking our overall narrative on plastics and incorporating all methods of waste diversion, including reuse. We must be focused on making the greatest and most immediate impact on plastic waste.”
APR describes itself as “The Voice of Plastics Recycling,” and as “the international trade association representing the plastics recycling industry.” Its membership includes independent recycling and processing companies, consumer product companies, equipment manufacturers, testing laboratories, organizations and “others committed to the success of plastics recycling.