RECOUP is pleased to confirm the appointments of Professor Andrew Dove and Jon Brookes as new Advisors to the RECOUP Board, further strengthening the organisation’s plastic circularity leadership across academia, innovation and industry.
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These appointments reflect RECOUP’s continued commitment to evidence-led progress and ensure that strong academic representation and real-world market insight are embedded at Board level during a critical period for the UK plastics and recycling sectors.
Professor Andrew Dove is a Professor of Sustainable Polymer Chemistry and Director of the Birmingham Plastics Network at the University of Birmingham. The Network is an interdisciplinary research community bringing together expertise from across science, engineering, social science and policy to shape a more sustainable future for plastics.
Andrew’s appointment underlines the strength of RECOUP’s relationships with academia, which have developed in recent years as cross disciplinary research, innovation and systems thinking become increasingly central to driving circularity. Academic representation on the Board ensures RECOUP continues to benefit directly from leading research and emerging innovation, particularly around polymer design and recyclability. This growing emphasis on innovation will also be reflected at RECOUP’s flagship event this year, where innovation will take on a more prominent role through the introduction of a dedicated Innovation Room showcasing new ideas, technologies and collaborative approaches across the value chain.
Jon Brookes, Chief Partnerships & Growth Officer at Ecosurety, joins the Board bringing extensive experience in producer responsibility, policy development and partnership-building across the packaging and recycling system. His appointment also reflects the strong and growing collaboration between RECOUP and Ecosurety, which has already delivered significant white paper into the challenges facing the UK recycling sector.
The research shows that current domestic reprocessing capacity stands at around 23% of what is required, with more than 200,000 tonnes of capacity lost since 2024 due to market volatility, policy uncertainty and rising operational costs. The report brings together industry insight, policy analysis and scenario modelling to outline both the risks facing the UK’s remaining reprocessors and a clear path forward. It also sets out targeted recommendations to Government aimed at stabilising and growing domestic capacity and supporting the UK’s transition toward a more circular plastics system.
Commenting on the appointments, Stuart Foster, CEO of RECOUP said:“The Board is a critical part of RECOUP’s ongoing success. These appointments reflect our commitment to drive meaningful progress on plastics circularity. Strengthening our links with academia, innovation and industry collaboration is essential, and Andrew and Jon bring highly complementary perspectives that will support our strategic direction.”