In recent years, MBA Polymers UK has established itself as a global leader in plastic recycling, earning RecyClass certification for its innovative range of recycled polymers, including the groundbreaking ABS Polymer—the first in the world to receive the Carbon Trust’s Lower CO2 label.As Depot Manager of its innovative facility in Wimblington, Cambridgeshire, Natalie Green is at the epicentre of a transformation in how we use – and reuse – plastics.
“This plant is relatively new but everything that we do here feeds into the bigger picture of what MBA Polymers wants to do; creating a host of brand-new circular supply chains for some of the most widely-used polymers,” she says. “I manage a team of 15 and we are all working hard towards this goal.”
“Compared to even 10 years ago, the industry is so much more welcoming and it’s something the EMR Group – of which MBA is a core part - has really embraced.”
Before joining MBA Polymers a little over a year ago, Natalie had a senior role managing Network Rail’s recycling yards across the East of England.
“I managed a team of 40 and we were recycling sections of rail, sleepers – everything was on an enormous scale,” she says. “The scope of the operation was huge and – with the size of machinery we were using – it could be quite scary too. That’s why we had such a focus on safety and that’s definitely been the case here with MBA, too.”
Her experience at Network Rail helped ensure she – and the recently-upgraded Wimblington facility – managed to hit the ground running.
“We recently had a gap analysis audit on site as we’re working towards ISO certification. This was a brand-new site when I joined and it’s grown massively over the past year, so I was really proud when the report came back and it said we’re already meeting the high standards required.”
While Natalie now has more than 10 years of experience in working in an operational role, she initially studied musical theatre at university. And there are, she insists, a range of important skills she gained from this course that help her in managing a busy depot, such as Wimblington.
“In lots of ways, you’re putting on a show,” she says. You have to choreograph your staff to make sure they’re doing the right things at the right time. And, like a musical, our processing line has a beginning, a middle and an end – you’re taking material that would otherwise end up in landfill, putting it through a series of sophisticated treatments and then sending on to customers who can give it a second life.”
While Natalie is excited by the prospect of a long career in the industry – and being a part of a period of unprecedented change – she is also aware that the impact of her work will have an even wider impact:
“I have a daughter, who is five, and I definitely want to pass on a better, cleaner world to her and her friends. Right now, we have so many products that are made to be thrown away, rather than fixed, when they are broken – if we can take that material and use it again, it will make a huge difference.”