Waste management company Averda has appointed Mariam Ansari director of plastics recycling and Brindha Roberts group director of sustainability.
The company says the appointments reflect its strategic focus on fostering the circular economy in the emerging world, as well as its commitment to staff diversity at senior level.
Ansari will lead Averda’s expansion in the plastics recycling sector, working with the solutions and innovation team, business development executives and external partners to identify and develop opportunities to grow the company’s plastics recycling portfolio.
Ansari holds a Master’s degree from Warwick Business School, in the UK. She joined the Averda Academy Programme in 2010 and has since steadily progressed through a series of increasingly senior roles across the business, including managing the company’s operations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar and, most recently, as head of special projects.
Roberts holds a Master’s degree in chemical engineering, as well as having graduated from the University of Stellenbosch’s Business School. She has worked for Mondi Packaging, Sappi and Kimberly-Clark before bringing her expertise to Averda.
Roberts has been Averda’s head of sustainability in South Africa since 2017 and has now been promoted to run strategic sustainability initiatives across all of Averda’s nine countries of operation – South Africa, Congo, Oman, Saudi Arabia, India, the UAE, Qatar, Morocco and the UK.