Industry topliner joins Reconomy management team

Prominent waste and recycling industry figure, Andy Butler, has joined the Reconomy Group in a strategic role to help drive toward the company’s ambitious growth targets.

Following a successful early career in corporate finance with senior roles at Ernst & Young and BDO, Andy spent 10 years at outsourced waste and resource management specialists, SWRnewstar. As CEO, he built revenues from £5m to £45m by developing and servicing a portfolio of big-name clients, then oversaw the sale of the business in 2019 – a year after Andy was recognised as one of LDC’s ‘ones to watch’ in their ‘Most Ambitious Business Leaders’ report.

Andy joins Reconomy on 1st April as part of the development of the group management team as the company continues to add to its strength, capability and focus on becoming the leading provider of services to drive the circular economy on the global stage.

Commenting on joining the Reconomy Group, Andy Butler said:

“The thing what excites me most about joining Reconomy is that the business really does mirror my own business philosophy: great people with great relationships, focused on delivering to the highest possible standards and harnessing the disruptive power of technology to deliver great results for all stakeholders. For me, the key underpinning factor is people – whether in your own business, customers or the all-important supply chain. Service levels, price, compliance, waste destination, information provision – there are so many crucial themes in our industry; I believe that the magic, however, is created by people collaborating and delivering innovative solutions.

For many years, waste hasn’t been at the forefront of people’s minds, but fuelled by the likes of Blue Planet we find our industry in a position to make a real lasting difference to society both today and in the future. Reconomy, as a leading player in the circular economy, has an enormous role in driving the revolution and I can’t wait to get started”.

Reconomy CEO, Paul Cox, said of the appointment:

“This is a real coup for Reconomy. Andy has a fantastic track record and wealth of experience in our industry, and we’ve admired his achievements with SWRnewstar for some time. He will bring invaluable strategic support to our M&A activity and his knowledge of the commercial waste sector will be vital as we continue to add to our industry-leading customer proposition in that area. Reconomy has an exciting vision for the future in terms of our holistic offer to drive the circular economy, and we have been developing our management team to align to this ambition. Andy is going to be an excellent addition to the Reconomy family and an asset in our pursuit of our goals”.