A Telford-headquartered waste and resource management group that owns Valpak, the Stratford-upon-Avon compliance specialist, and brings waste services, data and recycling compliance together for UK businesses.
Reconomy is a resource and waste management group with its UK head office in Telford, Shropshire. Rather than running landfill sites itself, it helps businesses manage waste and recycling through outsourced services, advice and data. Its best-known UK brand is Valpak, which helps companies meet rules on packaging waste, electrical waste (known as WEEE), batteries and other environmental requirements. According to Valpak's website, it offers services in five areas: compliance, insights, sustainability, rules for extended producer responsibility and deposit return schemes, and recycling. Other brands named in a 2019 trade interview included Helistrat, a resource management consultancy, Waste Check and Network Waste.
Valpak began in 1997, when the Government brought in the Packaging Waste Regulations, and says it has served more than 4,000 customers. It joined Reconomy in December 2018 and describes itself as part of Reconomy's compliance offer. Valpak states its purpose as "to create a sustainable, waste free world" and its mission as to "inspire businesses to reduce their environmental impact through leading data science and expertise". Reconomy's chief executive, Paul Cox, said in 2018 that the group's vision was to bring about change in the waste industry by pioneering new technologies and methodologies.
In the UK, a 2019 trade interview listed Telford as head office, Stratford-upon-Avon for Valpak, Portsmouth and Glasgow for Helistrat, and King's Lynn for Network Waste. Valpak's own site gives a UK telephone number and company registration in England and Wales, and holds quality, environmental, health and safety and information security certifications (ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 and 27001). Reconomy's website describes it today as an international group, but we only confirmed the UK locations from the older interview, so check the company's website for its current office list.
On culture, the 2019 interview said Reconomy wanted to promote more staff from within and mentioned internships, and the group talked about a five-year social value programme. Valpak's site highlights a data science focus and says it operates recycle-more.co.uk, a public website that helps people find out what can be recycled. These are the company's own statements and we did not find independent staff reviews that we could verify.
A business like this employs a mix of people. There are environmental and compliance consultants who help companies understand the rules, data analysts and software specialists who work with packaging and waste data, account managers, and operations staff who arrange collections and recycling. There are also marketing, finance, legal and human resources teams. If you like science, data, law or business and want to work on how companies handle their waste, this is a part of the industry that is easy to overlook but hires widely.
Website: www.reconomy.com
PURPOSE helps school and university students explore 62 sectors and over 1,000 entry-level careers in the UK, then connects them directly with employers.
Explore PURPOSE