Joy Blizzard, Chair of the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), has announced that she is standing down from the organisation.
“I was due to finish as Chair at the end of January, but a secondment opportunity has come up and therefore I will be standing down as Chair and resigning from the executive today”, she said in a statement on 3 January.
Blizzard was involved with LARAC for over a decade as South West Representative, Communications Officer and then Chair.
During her time at the organisation, she took place in many TV and Radio appearances and was named Number 1 in Resource’s Hot 100, but spent the majority of her time ensuring that LARAC was represented in meetings with government ministers, revamping the LARAC conference and getting LARAC involved at a European level.
“It has been a privilege to represent recycling officers across the UK and to have been involved with LARAC for the last 10 years. However, I’m looking forward to having my weekends and evenings back, and also to taking my head below the parapet. I have worked with some fantastic people over the last few years, and I will miss them, especially Colin and Jenny in the LARAC office, but now it’s time for a change.”
LARAC Vice-Chair Andrew Bird commented: “I want to thank Joy for all the help and support she has provided to LARAC and its members over the last five years as chair, and from a personal point the guidance she has provided to me as an Exec member. Joy has shown real enthusiasm and energy in supporting LARAC’s members and shaping the organisation in being more sustainable moving forward in these difficult economic times. Joy will be a hard act to follow for the person who succeeds her, and I wish her all the best for the future.”
Fellow Vice-Chair Mark Foxall added: “On behalf of the LARAC Executive and wider membership, I wish to sincerely thank Joy for her outstanding contribution to LARAC over the last decade and more generally to the local authority recycling sector. Having worked alongside Joy for many years, I know first hand the dedication and commitment she has given to LARAC, the result of which has seen the organisation mature and prosper and come to be recognised and respected within the waste industry. I wish to take the opportunity to wish Joy a well deserved rest from her LARAC duties and all the very best for the future.”
Nominations are currently being sought for a new LARAC Chair, and an announcement will be made shortly.
The news comes during a time of change for LARAC, as the organisation’s Executive Officer, Colin Kirkby, is retiring in April, at which point Lee Marshall will be taking over as CEO.
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