Martin Forrest began his career in the polymer industry with James Walker & Co. Ltd in 1977 in Woking, Surrey. He stayed at Walkers, a manufacturer of packings, gaskets and seals, until 1983 when he left to pursue a full time MSc in Polymer Science and Chemical Technology at the London School of Polymer Technology (LSPT). From the LSPT he moved to Loughborough University in 1984 to study for a PhD in Polymer Chemistry. He started work at Rapra Technology Ltd in 1988 as a Consultant in the Polymer Analysis department. During his time at Rapra he has held various roles in a number of different departments and been responsible for a variety of single client consultancy projects. He has also carried out technical management roles in the EU and UK funded collaborative research projects that have been focussed on a number of industry sectors. In particular, he was one of the technical leaders for the EU funded research project SuperCleanQ, concerned with developing new sorting, recycling and analysis systems for food grade PET, that ran from 2011 until 2014, and a UK Food Standards Agency funded project which developed new post-market tests for recycled food contact PET and Paper & Board which ran from 2011 until 2013. At present he is a Principal Consultant in the Consultancy Group at Smithers Rapra and one of his duties is to be responsible for projects that focus on the recycling of plastics and rubbers.
