Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based CEO’ operating in the Waste Management space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Steven Novick
CEO & Founder of Farmstand
Previously built 2 billion-dollar businesses and climbed the 7 Summits including Everest. Beating cancer made him passionate about health + the environment and growing up working class has made him appreciate affordability + convenience.
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About Farmstand: Farmstand is the Earth’s first meal delivery service focused on the Future of Work. We feed your team in the office and at home.
Alexander Guslisty
Founder, CEO of BIG Atom
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About BIG Atom: Recycling company on a mission to end polymer waste. They develop, build and operate new generation infrastructure for processing waste.
May Al-Karooni
Founder & CEO of Globechain
May Al-Karooni is the founder of Globechain – an award winning British reuse marketplace that connects corporates to charities and smes to redistribute free unwanted items, creating social impact data to its members. May previously worked within the investment banking and asset management industry, fundraising monies for venture capital, property and hedge funds for the last 10 years totaling over £120 million in funds raised. In 2013 May set up Globechain after seeing a demand for a new online circular economy within the waste management industry after her own employer expressed a need to reuse items in a more collaborative way. Globechain has gained huge momentum growing to 10,000 members with eBay as its mentors and securing contracts with some of the world’s largest brands as well as growing a large network of charities nationally and internationally. Globechain works within the retail, commercial and construction industry and last year diverted 5,100,000 kilos from landfill with items being re distributed within the UK as well as abroad as far as Sierra Leone, Guinea, Kenya, Libya and the Ukraine providing savings of over £1,500,000 to charitable causes.
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About Globechain: Globechain is a B2B reuse marketplace connecting businesses to charities, creating social impact data.
Adrian Griffiths
Founder & CEO of Recycling Technologies
Founder of RT in 2011. Previously a management consultant and engineer, Adrian has extensive commercial and technical experience in a variety of manufacturing sectors. He co-founded two successful UK businesses: OEE Consulting & Vendigital. Adrian holds a degree in engineering from Imperial College.
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About Recycling Technologies: Recycling Technologies specializes in waste management and engineering processes and helps customers achieve financial gains from waste.
Mikela Druckman
Founder and CEO of Greyparrot
Mikela is the Founder & CEO of Greyparrot, a UK tech company using AI based computer vision to power next generation robotics and smart systems for waste management. Previously, she was CCO at Blippar, developing cutting edge computer vision and augmented reality products and partnering with global brands to deliver award-winning projects. She is a Global Future Council member at the World Economic Forum, providing thought leadership on emerging technologies including AI for the private and public sector. In 2018, Mikela was listed as “TopWomen50” in tech by WeAreTheCity. She is passionate about using new technologies to solve key challenges in our society.
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About Greyparrot: AI-based computer vision solutions to power next generation robotics and smart systems for the waste management industry
Sandra Sassow
Founder & CEO of SEaB Energy
Sandra Sassow is Founder & CEO at SEaB Energy.
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About SEaB Energy, SEAB Energy Inc, Unreasonable: SEaB Energy has patented a micro anaerobic digestion system for onsite and in-building conversion of organics to energy, water, & fertiliser
Steve Mogford
Chief Executive Officer of United Utilities
Steve Mogford qualified from London University in 1977 with a first class honours degree in Astrophysics, Mathematics and Physics, before joining British Aerospace. During his long career with the company, Steve held a number of senior positions before being appointed Chief Operating Officer and a member of the BAE Systems plc board between 2000 and 2007. In this role, he led BAE’s major programmes businesses. In 2007 he joined Finmeccanica, Italy’s principal defence and security company, as Chief Executive of SELEX Galileo; a subsidiary with operations in several countries and providing systems to customers around the world. Steve left Finmeccanica in 2010 to join the Board of United Utilities Group PLC before becoming Chief Executive Officer in March 2011, a position he still holds. Steve was senior independent director with Carillion plc, until December 2015 when he retired from the Carillion board after serving nine years.
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About United Utilities: United Utilities brings 3 million households and 200,000 businesses, clean, clear water and to take it all away again.
Carlos Monreal
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Plastic Energy
Carlos Monreal is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Plastic Energy.
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About Plastic Energy: Plastic Energy offers a global and sustainable solution to prevent plastic pollution.
Rowena Sellens
CEO of Econic Technologies
A PhD chemist by background, Rowena has 28 years senior management experience in the chemical industry, having held responsibility for R&D, manufacturing, sales & marketing and general management in ICI and Lucite International. This culminated in GM responsibility for Lucite’s €120Mpa turnover EMEA Materials businesses with leading brands Perspex®, Lucite® and Diakon®. She led technical and IP functions through transition from ICI to private ownership and then played a key role in commercial integration of global materials businesses following acquisition by a Japanese multi-national. Passionate about developing individuals and teams to deliver beyond their own expectations, she creates strong values-based culture within her businesses. As the first CEO of Econic, her role is to define and lead the delivery of the complete suite of critical success factors required to achieve Econic’s strategic business objectives and secure the anticipated value returns. Since her arrival in 2014 Econic transformed from a pure catalyst research team to a focused business operation covering all aspects of market and technology development. The IP portfolio of the company has trebled in size. The team has grown from 9 to 30 people. Two funding rounds have secured £12M investment and two new investors. In 2017 Rowena relocated the business from Imperial College’s London incubator to Alderley Park in Cheshire. A £2M Horizon 2020 SME award helped build the pilot scale Customer Demonstration Facility opened in 2018.
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About Econic Technologies: Econic Technologies develops new catalysts and processes for the manufacture of polymers from CO2.
