Roger Morton to leave position at S Norton, Axion Recycling

Managing Director Roger Morton is resigning from U.K.-based metals recycler S Norton & Co. and Axion Recycling.

The company says Morton will leave his full-time employment with both companies Feb. 28. He will continue in a consultancy role, acting for both companies on a “project by project basis” over the coming months.

“I am sad to be leaving my friends and colleagues at S Norton and Axion,” Morton says. “They are both great businesses that are helping to save the planet by recovering vital resources for the future. I am privileged to have been part of this industry.”

Morton helped form Axion, a plastics recycler and resource recovery consultancy, in 2001 and the subsequent joint venture with S Norton & Co. in 2006. He was appointed managing director of S Norton in June 2016. Throughout this time, the company says he has worked tirelessly on the development of waste recycling.

In his role as managing director, Morton fulfilled a vital role in the reorganization of the company, particularly in relation to corporate governance, regulatory compliance as well as organizational and operational matters.

At Axion, it will be "business as usual" with most of the staff who previously reported to Morton now reporting to Judith Clayman, who has been promoted to general manager. Clayman, one of Axion’s original employees, has been Axion’s finance manager for many years, the company says.

“Axion is at the forefront of recycling plastic from end-of-life vehicles and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), thanks to Roger’s dedicated service, drive and enthusiasm,” says S Norton chairman John Norton. “We are grateful for the changes that Roger has helped us to introduce at S Norton. I am sorry that Roger is leaving us and wish him well for the future.”

Morton says he’s grateful to John, Charlie and Matt Norton for their “vision, integrity and commitment” in supporting Axion as it developed into a sector leader over the past 12 years.

“I know that S Norton and Axion will continue to grow and flourish under their leadership,” he says.

Founded in 1960, S Norton & Co. is family-run scrap processing business collecting, processing and distributing over one million tons of ferrous scrap every year. It has long-established metal recycling operations across the U.K. in Manchester, London, Liverpool and Southampton, employing a total of 215 people.

Axion Recycling was founded in 2001 by directors Roger Morton and Keith Freegard, who is also still involved with the business on a part-time consultancy basis. Axion develops and operates innovative resource recovery and processing solutions for recycling waste materials, working with clients in diverse commercial sectors.

In 2018, Axion Recycling and its business units trading as Axion Polymers, a plastics recycler, and Axion Consulting, the resource recovery consultancy side of the business, became a wholly owned subsidiary of the S Norton Group.