Great Missenden woman 'overwhelmed' after being awarded an OBE in New Year Honours List 2023

A Bucks woman has shared her joy at receiving an OBE in the 2023 New Year Honours List.

Susie Burrage from Great Missenden was among the hundreds of people honoured by the Royal Family.

She is the managing director of Buckinghamshire-based Recycled Products Ltd and was recognised because of her environmental work.

Susie, 50, said she wants to use the honour to “shine a light” on the important role the recycling industry has in our future, and to encourage a whole new generation of young people to join the sector.

She said: “I am overwhelmed to have been awarded this honour and proud that it is for services to recycling, which is requisite to the future of our planet.

“I dedicate this accolade to my family, past and present, who have supported me and encouraged me, especially my late father Tom, who brought me into this industry and encouraged me to take a seat at the boardroom table when it was predominantly men who were doing so.”

As well as running her business based in Chesham, Susie is also president of the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA), the European Metal Trade and Recycling Branch of EuRIC.

Her other accolades include being UK ambassador for the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), ambassador for the Global Recycling Foundation, and patron of the Bureau of Middle East Recycling.

All roles are undertaken on a voluntary basis.

She was the first woman to be appointed to the board of the 100-year-old BMRA and became the association’s first female president when she was elected in 2016 - she has subsequently been re-elected for an unprecedented four times since.

Robert Ellis, Operations Manager at Recycled Products Ltd, added: “Susie is the third generation of the Burrage family I have worked alongside, and I know her father and grandfather would be extremely proud. The team at Recycled Products and I are delighted that Susie has been recognised for her hard work and dedication to the recycling industry."

Susie works with lobbyists and policymakers across a range of issues that affect the industry globally.