Born: I was born in 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Education: I earned a B.S. degree in commerce from the University of Virginia in 1988 and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995.
Family: I’ve been married to my wife Kim since 1993, and we have three sons who range in age from 19 to 27.
When and how did you enter the recycling industry? I’ve only been in recycling since 2020, but I’ve spent my entire career in and around paper and packaging. From the mid-1990s until 2010, I was in the publishing and printing business with Cadmus Communications, which operated commercial printing, packaging, and periodicals printing facilities in the Eastern U.S. In 2010, I joined Meadwestvaco’s health-care folding carton business, which eventually became part of WestRock. In 2017, I had the opportunity to join Caraustar to lead its folding carton business. After the sale of Caraustar to Greif, we then sold that division to Graphic Packaging International, and I had the opportunity to lead the recycling business when Greg Cottrell retired. I started literally right as the first COVID lockdowns began and have had an incredibly interesting journey since then.
What was it about the industry that prompted you to build a career in it? Three years is not a career yet, but I can tell you that I have found that a career in recycling offers things that many industries do not:
For one, our business serves a high purpose. The world has come to recognize the importance of sustainability and circularity. The more we succeed in building our recycling businesses, we do good not just for our employees and shareholders but also for the world at large.
Second, this industry offers a huge range of challenge and variety. Everyone told me when I started that I would find every day was a new adventure. That is absolutely true. The variety and the constant change in our market makes our work fun.
And third, it’s an industry where collaboration is key and doing the right thing pays off. All of us are both competitors and customers of each other, so integrity and honor mean something.
What have been your most rewarding professional achievements? My most rewarding professional achievements have been seeing businesses turn around. I had the chance with Meadwestvaco to lead and be part of a team that took an idea for a strategy that could really differentiate the business and—through focus and hard work—make that pay off in a large way. With Caraustar, I had the chance to come in and help a great team see its capability and potential and, with that recognition, change the direction of the business.
Greatest personal achievements? Personally, my most rewarding achievement has been seeing my sons grow up into young men who are caring, ethical, and responsible.
What are you passionate about? I love saltwater fishing. I live near the Chesapeake Bay and am passionate about improving environmental and water quality in the area.
Tell us something about you that would surprise people. I am innately an introvert. My path in life was changed by taking my first job in the field of market/competitive research. I had to learn to operate out of my comfort zone and developed a confidence that enabled any subsequent successes I’ve had in my career.
If you could improve anything about yourself, what would it be? I still want to be less of an introvert.
What do you like to do in your free time? I like to hike, fish, and cook.
When and why did your company decide to join ISRI and the PSI Chapter? Greif has been a member of PSI for over 20 years. Crawford Carpenter [a former PSI Chapter President and now-retired paper recycling executive] represented us in the early days, serving on the PSI board and working with the specifications and scholarship committees. We chose to be a part of this organization to stay up to date by sharing challenges with our peers in the industry.
What benefits have you received from your PSI involvement as a member? Not only have we been able to offer some input on legislation affecting the recycling industry, but we have also had the opportunity to introduce Greif. Greif did not have a recycling group prior to purchasing Caraustar. PSI has allowed us to introduce Greif as a leading recycler as well as the other customers we support with fiber drums, tubes and cores, and linerboard for corrugated boxes.
What are the major challenges facing your company and the overall recycling industry today? From a market perspective, over the long term, the challenge is ensuring that there is an efficient and effective system of collecting material from the residential waste stream. With more consumer packaging using paper and with more and more work-from-home and e-commerce, the opportunity to grow supply is from the home. Improving consumer understanding and participation in recycling is key to making the economics work in both good markets and bad.
The other main challenge our industry faces is attracting talent. Some of the best attributes about our industry are not immediately evident to potential employees. It is entrepreneurial, it is an industry that does good for the world, there is a real sense of camaraderie, and our industry is growing as recycled paper is used in more and more applications. There are opportunities in our industry from the smallest sole proprietorships to some of the largest companies in the world. We all can do a better job telling that story to attract the best talent to our industry.
