Austria-based industrial shredding specialist UNTHA has announced it has recruited Andreas Senkbeil to oversee the company’s growth in the Asian Pacific market.

Senkbeil has worked in the waste management sector for the past four years. While his geographical focus will remain much as it has to date, Senkbeil also will travel to meet engineering partners, clients and potential new customers in countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, China and Australia, says UNTHA.

According to UNTHA, Senkbeil’s appointment is well-timed, given its relatively recent penetration of the Asian market. For example, last summer, the team shipped an XR waste shredder to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to process solid footwear production waste into solid recovered fuel (SRF) that now powers Lafarge-Holcim’s Hon Chong cement kiln. In late 2015, UNTHA also played a role in the development of another SRF facility, for waste firm Zion, in Wonju city, South Korea.

“Having spent some time in Asia myself, I am aware of Andreas’ presence in this part of the world, and his knowledge of local waste markets, cultures and alternative fuel production opportunities,” says Peter Streinik, head of UNTHA’s waste business unit. “This will prove crucial as we look to expand in what is fast becoming an incredibly important area for our global business. The waste landscape here is very diverse so we are working hard to show different Asian Pacific organizations how they can improve the stability of their resource infrastructure, whilst boosting their profitability, with the help of clever waste to energy technology.”

“In South East Asia alone, we see huge market fragmentation,” Senkbeil says. “Singapore was the first country to declare waste a national resource, for example, but Thailand has since followed suit as a result of the pro-environment government defining the country’s energy policy and waste issues making the national news. In developing economies such as Vietnam, there is much more work to be done, as is the case in China, where the importance of waste management has been disregarded until relatively recently. But there is so much potential; this is definitely a great opportunity for me.”

Originally from Germany, where he studied industrial engineering, Senkbeil later recived his MBA at an American campus in Bangkok.

“I’m no stranger to travelling,” Seinkbeil says. “I will split my time between Asia, Australia, my home city of Berlin and of course UNTHA’s Salzburg headquarters. And hopefully UNTHA’s knowledge of the global market will continue to grow as a result.”