Jacob Hayler is the Executive Director at the Environmental Services Association – the UK’s trade association for managers of waste and secondary resources.

Jacob joined ESA from the City in 2005 as an Economist focused on helping to develop market-focused policies that combine environmental and economic sustainability. At various points during his time at ESA, Jacob retained responsibility for policy relating to finance, tax, carbon management, contracts and energy from waste. 

In January 2015 Jacob was appointed ESA’s Executive Director and he now retains responsibility for the day to day running of the Association. Jacob has represented the industry on multiple government advisory bodies and committees and is the UK’s representative on various pan-European waste and recycling industry bodies.

Dr Adam Read has spent the last 6 years at SUEZ leading on government engagement concerning UK waste & resource policy reform, sitting on industry working groups, drafting written consultations and calls for evidence and presenting to Government Committees. He has worked on energy recovery projects for more than 20 years, as a consultant, client, contractor and community engagement specialist, having previously developed planning guidance for Welsh Government on new residual waste infrastructure. Adam is a regular conference speaker and facilitator, a technical report author and a frequent blogger and social media enthusiast.  He is a Fellow of the CIWM, the RSA, IOM3 and the Royal Geographical Society and was the CIWM ‘s 105th President when he championed the opportunities for green skills delivery in our sector as part of decarbonising the UK.

Ian Arbon is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, Registered European Engineer and Chartered Environmentalist, with an MSc in ‘Renewable Energy and the Environment’ and an MBA; he has almost 50 years of experience of the EfW sector internationally.  Formerly MD of several UK engineering-sector manufacturing companies, he now runs Engineered Solutions, a Sustainable Engineering and Management consultancy.  Ian is a Fellow of IMechE, its Champion for ‘Waste as Resource’ (WaR) and Lead Author of the Institution’s Report: “Energy from Waste: a wasted opportunity”; he is also the Lead Author of IMechE’s recent policy statement: “Waste as a Resource: a sustainable way forward”. Between 2006 and 2019, Ian has taught MSc/MEng courses on ‘Energy Policies, Politics and Ethics’ at Newcastle University and ‘EfW/WaR’ at the University of Glasgow.

Anna is an environmental criminal lawyer, specialising in defence work in the waste and recycling industry.  She is dual-qualified, having completed a PhD in geochemistry and worked as an environmental consultant for 5 years before qualifying as a lawyer. 

Anna represents waste and recycling businesses and directors who are prosecuted by the regulators (Environment Agency and local authorities) for environmental and waste offences. 

She is President of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management and a Trustee of the Board.  She is also Co-Convenor of UKELA’s Waste Working Party. 

Anna is co-authoring a book on the practical application of waste management law with a barrister and an environmental consultant.

Fabio Poretti holds a Double Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Connecticut and in Energy Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano. After studies, he worked as a research fellow of the Politecnico di Milano at LEAP, fostering academic investigation into industrial perspective mainly in the field of material and energy recovery from waste. Fabio currently covers the position of Technical & Scientific Officer at CEWEP, where he transversally follows the dossiers inside the European Green Deal, with particular focus to energy and climate policies, together with project management and coordination. Among the latest projects at CEWEP, Fabio worked as leading author of the new Climate Roadmap of the European Waste-to-Energy Sector.