Ravish Jain

The world produces over 300 million tonnes of plastic each year but only 10% of waste plastic packaging is recycled. New ways to increase plastic waste recycling are needed, and Recycling Technologies, a rapidly growing company based in Swindon is doing just that. Ravish Jain, Recycling Technologies’ Commercial Manager, received a Royal Academy of Engineering Pathways to Growth award (now SME Leaders Programme) that provided support for training at a pivotal stage of the company’s development.

Recycling Technologies has developed a machine that recycles waste plastic and turns it back into an oil called Plaxx^®, that has uses such as developing new plastics. Two managers representing the engineering and commercial teams had access to specialist courses such as ‘Solid Edge’ and ‘Control System’ training through the Pathways to Growth programme. Sharing this knowledge with others helped to develop in-house expertise in 3D modelling and design. This benefited the business as engineers at Recycling Technologies gained the skills and confidence to design a successful pilot plant for chemical recycling in-house.

The commercial manager also took part in leadership workshops that the Academy provided as part of the Pathways to Growth programme. Investing in continued professional development is a key part of the company’s strategy, so this added value for the company. Recycling Technologies is proud of its highly-skilled workforce, 25% of whom are women[1].

“Increasing our capabilities through leadership skills and engineering related training has helped to improve the overall productivity of the company,” Ravish highlights.  

The combination of talented leadership and engineering expertise is enabling Recycling Technologies to embark on its next phase of development. To support this, Ravish has joined the Executive Board and been promoted to Commercial Operations Director to will lead the next round of fundraising.

His new role will involve raising the profile of the award-winning technology. Ravish credits the Pathways to Growth programme as having helped to improve his communication skills and broadened his network. “It provided a valuable opportunity to share skills and experiences with other ambitious SMEs and industry leaders,” he explains. “It is a real privilege to work with them and use skills gained through the award to promote interest in Recycling Technologies.”

[1] This is higher than the current average; 11% of the UK engineering workforce is female. http://www.wes.org.uk/content/wesstatistics