Malone Receives BIR Papyrus Award

Jim Malone, currently responsible for managing 2 million metric tons of recovered paper and other recyclables handled annually by U.K.-based D S Smith Recycling, has been awarded the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) Paper Division’s Papyrus prize.

The award was made at the BIR’s Paper Round-Table meeting in Munich Oct. 25, 2011.

BIR Paper Division President Ranjit Baxi of U.K.-based J&H Sales International described Malone as a man with a passionate commitment to paper recycling.

Having entered the industry in 1987 when he joined Severnside Recycling, Malone was soon managing the company’s Croydon, U.K., recycling facility. From there, he expanded his responsibilities to become sales and purchasing director of Severnside Recycling 10 years ago, continuing with the company’s recent rebranding as D S Smith Recycling.

Accordign to the BIR, Malone has been a key player in the development of numerous paper recycling initiatives.

In accepting the prize, Malone described it as “a great honor” and spoke of the responsibility shared throughout the industry of keeping recycling “high on the political agenda.” With the world’s population about to surpass 7 billion and with available resources likely to become ever more stretched, “recycling has never been more important,” Malone commented.

According to the BIR’s Paper Division, the Papyrus prize is awarded twice a year — once to a company or organization and once to an individual — in recognition of their services to paper recycling. In May of 2011 at the BIR Spring Convention in Singapore, the company recipient was container shipping line APL Ltd.