Stuart Lurie

Chairman of the Board

Stuart was instrumental in founding Recycling Management Resources, opening the first plant in Raleigh in 2008. The plan for RMR was hatched in an effort to create recycling plants that provided a high level of service, which was lacking for some of Wilmington Paper's folding carton and converting plant partners.

Stuart assumed the role of Chairman of the Board in January 2023. He served as Chief Executive Officer in November 2021, with his son Brett Lurie succeeding him as President. Stuart developed a unique approach to maximizing revenue and efficiency in folding carton and converting plants called The Program™, which Wilmington Paper has implemented and monitors in over 300 plants worldwide. Under Stuart’s leadership, the business has continued to grow, also creating trucking affiliate Green Logistics, and a successful scrap brokering and trading arm of Wilmington Paper that buys and sells in all 48 contiguous states and around the world. 

In addition to Brett, Stuart's son Joshua is Head of Data Analytics and Information at The Wilmington Group. Stuart and his wife Karen, also have a daughter, Erin, and six grandchildren. 

Brett Lurie

President

Brett started working with RMR in 2008 around the same period he joined Wilmington Paper full time. He became a partner in 2015, and in 2019, he was appointed to lead the executive team, focusing on the sales and marketing efforts. He was named President in November 2021.

Brett has been instrumental in bringing in substantial new volume into the plants while working closely with each of the RMR facilities to create and implement operational efficiencies while still creating a reliable and valuable product.  

For Wilmington Paper, Brett has worked to build out new segments of the business that complement the core functions of Wilmington Paper while having a positive impact on the bottom line. He’s used the current network of relationships in the industry to create a trash management and landfill diversion business. He’s also leveraged Wilmington Paper’s experience and standing in the industry to build and develop an export brokerage and trading business.

Brett is a graduate of The Ohio State University. He resides in Livingston, NJ with his wife, Paula, daughter, Ella, and son, Henry.

David Schmidt

Executive Vice President, Operations

David was brought on in 2022 to oversee all operations for Wilmington Paper, Recycling Management Resources, Green Logistics and Royal Shredding.

He started his career in the wastepaper and recycling industry in 1989 with Waldorf Paper Corporation, a papermill located in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

Over a career spanning thirty-three years of successful plant operations, David has held a variety of leadership positions with Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation, Allied Waste Industries, and RockTenn/WestRock, in addition to Waldorf Paper. He has successfully overseen traditional and complex residential single stream plant systems in markets across the United States. 

He is a graduate of the University of Missouri – St. Louis, with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus in Finance, earning his Master of Business Administration in 2010.

David is based in Duluth, GA, the corporate headquarters of Recycling Management Resources.

Thomas Topp

Chief Financial Officer

Thomas Topp joined the company in September 2022 as the CFO across Wilmington Paper's group of companies.

Thomas has extensive leadership experience, most recently as the CFO for Georgia-based, global manufacturer PolyVision and Innio Waukesha Engines. He spent 17 years at Heidelberg USA, a sales and service provider of prepress, press, post-press and digital printing equipment and software, as the Senior Vice President/CFO – Americas and the General Manager, Consumables Division, where he identified major business issues and implemented solutions to resolve rapid growth challenges. 

Thomas has a Master’s degree from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Engineering, Business Administration and Finance.

Thomas is based in Duluth, GA, the corporate headquarters of Recycling Management Resources.

Mitch Whitley

Managing Partner

Mitch is a managing partner of Recycling Management Resources. Mitch has over twenty five years of plant based recycling operations experience. As a founding member of RMR, Mitch has provided operational guidance to RMR as the company has experienced rapid growth.

RMR was established in 2008 with the startup of the first plant and it has grown significantly over the years,  including the addition of Green Logistics. Prior to founding RMR, Mitch served as General Manager and Regional Manager for Caraustar Industries in their Recovered Fiber Group. Mitch has current responsibilities of providing guidance to RMR and RMR Holdings business group managers.

Justin Blevin

Executive Vice President, Plant Operations

Justin first joined RMR in 2018 as the manager of the Delaware plant that RMR acquired from National Paper Recycling. He currently oversees the RMR plants in Barrington, NJ, Wilmington, DE and Richmond, VA. Justin was integral in handling the successful relocations of the plants now operating in Wilmington and Barrington.

The Barrington plant, which originated in Camden, NJ, was also part of the 2018 National Paper Recycling transaction. The plant in Camden suffered a devastating fire later that year, and the decision was made to relocate that plant to Barrington after the fire. The Barrington plant opened in 2019 and has become an amazing turnaround story under Justin's watch, growing from handling 6,000 tons to 9,000 tons per month.

Justin earned an International Business degree with a focus on Operational Improvements from Johnson and Wales University in Providence, RI and began his career in the waste hauling business in Providence. After two years, he joined National Paper Recycling in Camden as the night shift supervisor.  After NPR acquired the plant in Delaware, Justin was promoted to manage that plant. He continued to manage the Delaware plant through the subsequent RMR acquisition before he was transferred back to New Jersey. In May 2020, he assumed management of operations at both Barrington and Wilmington and has recently added oversight of the Richmond plant. In 2021, Justin was promoted to oversee all plant operations at RMR, which included a key role in starting up the newest RMR plant for the Memphis market, located in Olive Branch, MS. 

Justin, originally from Somers Point, NJ, now lives in Pitman, NJ with his wife Nicole, their children, and their dog, Saylor. 

Ki Daniels

Executive Director, Green Logistics

Ki has been part of the Green Logistics team since it was founded in June 2012.  Ki was integral in establishing all necessary processes and procedures of the start-up business.  As Green Logistics grew, Ki became more involved in the overall operations, and in 2016 she was named Operations Manager.  She helped set up the operations in Cherokee, AL in late 2016. In 2018, Ki was heavily involved in the growth of Green Logistics related to the NPR acquisition by Recycling Management Resources. 

Through Green Logistics’ evolvement, expansions into intermodal and port operations is another part of the success of Green Logistics.  With Ki’s background and experience in ocean logistics, she has been an important leader in this expansion.  As the current Executive Director, her team is poised for the next level of growth in current and future markets. 

A graduate of the University of Georgia, Ki moved to Atlanta from Nashville, TN in 1998. She spent over 13 years with Georgia-Pacific, LLC, holding various positions in customer service, logistics (specifically global logistics), and management.  Her passion for how shipments move from A to B, and all that goes on in between, made joining Green Logistics a perfect fit. 

Ki currently lives in Buford, GA near Lake Lanier where she spends time boating, fishing, and spending time with her adorable pup, Sully.

Paige Denton

Executive Vice President, Sales
 Paige first joined RMR in 2015 as the North Carolina sales manager supporting volume growth into the Raleigh and High Point RMR plants. She moved into the role of managing all pricing and supplier relationships in NC and VA, before assuming her current role. She is responsible for all volume and margin management of material purchased as well as coordinating all communication with national accounts and the plant Sales and Operations Managers. 

Paige began her career in recycling in 2002 at Pratt Industries working to introduce and grow the FEL recycling program in the Charlotte, NC market.

Prior to RMR, she worked for International Paper (first Weyerhaeuser) as a Sourcing Representative until 2008 when IP acquired Weyerhaeuser's Recycling division. During her 10 years at Weyerhaeuser/IP, she moved from a local sourcing role into an East Coast Brokerage position, working closely with IP's Global Sourcing group to supply and coordinate shipments of OCC and high-grade fiber to IP's internal mill system. She also oversaw pricing negotiations with suppliers. 

She was honored by IP with the Chairman's Council Key Drivers Award for exceptional results in 2013.  Paige, who has a Bachelor of Science from Western Carolina, lives in Stanley, NC with her husband, Steven, and their two children.

Christine Hunt

Director of Human Resources

Christine focuses on all aspects of human resources,  including talent acquisition and retention, employee relations, compensation and benefits, and organizational culture initiatives.

She previously served as a Director, Human Resources Business Partner for Covanta, and Director of Human Resources for RiverRoad Waste Solutions, which was rebranded Rubicon Global, during her tenure.

Christine, a graduate of Villanova and Pace University Law School, lives with her husband Bill, and their children Alex, Liam and Victoria in New Jersey. 

Ya Zhang

Controller

Ya joined RMR in 2018 as Assistant Controller and was named Controller in 2020. She leads all of RMR's accounting and finances, including overall budget preparation. At RMR, Ya has developed accounting and finance standards and procedures across the entire company including the plants, creating training processes and checklists for staff on the accounting team and inside the plants. She has implemented numerous projects that have resulted in significant cost savings and a more efficient use of time and resources. 

Ya arrived at RMR after more than 15 years working for multiple multi-billion dollar manufacturing companies, including Fortune 500 companies. She started her career in 2005 as a general ledger accountant in Praxair (which was merged with Linde AG in 2018) In 2012, she joined RockTenn as a corporate accountant in Atlanta, and went to FIberVisions in 2013. In 2015, she moved to Allnex as an accounting manager and then was promoted to finance manager.

 
Ya, a CPA, graduated from the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in China with a Bachelor of Science in Taxation and has a Master's in Accounting from Indiana University.