WasteAid to appoint new Chief Executive

International waste management charity WasteAid will begin the process of recruiting a new Chief Executive as part of its plans to expand its operations and team development.

As the charity looks to step up action to fight poverty, pollution and climate change in the new decade, its recent strategic review, confirmed at a Board meeting on 15 January, outlined a series of team development changes and expansion plans as it orients its course for the next 10 years.

Current Chief Executive Mike Webster, who has occupied the role since WasteAid was founded in 2015 and is a former winner of the annual Resource Hot 100 poll of resources and waste industry influencers, will be transitioning to a new strategic role that retains his expertise in the charity while allowing him to better balance family and other professional commitments later in the year.

This move will take place following the recruitment of the new Chief Executive, the hiring process for which will be overseen by Trustee Ray Georgeson, who will temporarily step down from the Board to provide management support to WasteAid on a part-time basis for a few months.

The new Chief Executive will be expected to steer WasteAid through a significant period of growth for the charity. The last three years have seen WasteAid’s annual turnover increasing from £50,000 in 2017 to £330,000 in 2019.

In addition, WasteAid raised £168,000 as part of its ‘Widening the Net’ appeal in 2019, saw its community-led waste management toolkit named one of the top three waste publications in the world in 2018 and announced a three-year partnership with waste management company Biffa in April 2019 to fund its international projects.

The charity shows no sign of relenting in its drive forward, with 2020 set to see the delivery of community waste management training courses in The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, with additional projects in the pipeline for Indonesia, Haiti and Tanzania.

As well as a new Chief Executive, WasteAid is set to welcome recycling industry entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr Jonathan Straight to its Board as a new Trustee.

Chair of WasteAid, Sarahjane Widdowson said: “We are entering an exciting period of rapid growth for WasteAid, as demand for our community-led solutions to poor waste management in low-income countries increases. Our capacity to respond to this demand is increasing, and the structural changes we are making reflect that.

“The Board of Trustees is indebted to Mike Webster for his tireless commitment to WasteAid. He has made an immeasurable contribution from the very early days and the fact that we are where we are today is testament to that contribution. We are delighted to have developed a good way of ensuring the energy, skill and passion Mike [Webster] has for tackling the challenge of poor waste management in low-income countries stays with WasteAid as we grow our management capacity for the next vital phase of development.

“The Board is also delighted to welcome Jonathan Straight as a Trustee. He will bring his inestimable track record of business growth and strong experience of managing change to the Board in this important year of growth. Jonathan shares our passion and sense of urgency we have to increase our ability to make a positive difference to tackling the climate emergency through good waste management and recycling.”

Recruitment for the new Chief Executive role commences this week, with further details available on the WasteAid website.