Mandy Kelly has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of the trade association for the liquid carton industry ACE UK, succeeding Richard Hands who has led the organisation since its launch in 2010.
Ms Kelly brings extensive experience of the UK recycling landscape, ACE UK reports, having previously worked as Business Development Director for Palm Recycling and as a member of the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) Recovered Paper Committee.
Her predecessor Richard Hands Mr Hands has overseen the development and growth of the association during his 14 year-tenure, including the construction of the UK's first dedicated liquid carton recycling facility, pioneering new automated sorting technologies in Ireland, and successfully campaigning for key changes to recycling policy across the UK. Mr Hands will retire in spring 2025 and will continue to support the new CEO and the ACE UK team until then.
New ACE UK Chief Executive Mandy Kelly said: “I am honoured to be following Richard as CEO of ACE UK. Over the last 14 years, ACE UK has achieved so much under his leadership – leaving some big shoes to fill. (...) I look forward to continuing our work with the new Government and local authorities across the UK to implement Simpler Recycling reforms.”
"Carton Ready" initiative to be accelerated
The recruitment comes at a crucial time for the industry as ACE UK accelerates its "Carton Ready" campaign to implement the government's Simpler Recycling reforms, which will require all English local authorities to include beverage cartons in household kerbside collections of recyclables.
The association provides resources and advice to help English local authorities successfully implement the mandatory separate collection of liquid cartons. This includes a Carton Ready Implementation toolkit, which provides step-by-step guidance for local authorities to set up and maintain effective kerbside collection services from different starting points. Currently one third of local authorities do not collect liquid cartons at kerbside.
The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE) UK represents Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc, the leading manufacturers of liquid cartons for the UK and European markets.
