Our leaders oversee a wide range of locations and processing plants.

Stretching across North America, Strategic Materials recycles and processes glass and plastic. Our processed materials are then sold to manufacturers to make a diverse set of products including glass containers, fiberglass insulation, beads, abrasives and fillers.

Chris Dods

President and Chief Executive Officer

Chris Dods joined Strategic Materials as President & Chief Executive Officer in January 2020.

Mr. Dods has significant executive leadership experience in the environmental and industrial services industries with a proven ability to drive sustainable and profitable growth in the sector. Prior to joining Strategic Materials, he served as CEO of Clean Earth, one of the largest specialty waste companies in the United States.  He also served as President, Environmental Services Division at Philips Services Corporation and earlier in his career he was a Senior Vice President at Aramark Corporation.

Mr. Dods graduated from the United States Naval Academy.

Paul Garris

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Paul Garris is responsible for the leadership and management of the company’s Finance & Accounting, IT, Supply Chain & Logistics departments.

Paul has deep experience in the recycling industry extending over 15 Years. Before rejoining the company in 2021, he was the Chief Financial Officer for Circulus Holdings, PBLLC, a plastics recycling company focused on recovering post-consumer plastics for conversion into high-quality resins, and worked eight years in the recycling division of Waste Management (NYSE: WM), the leading comprehensive waste and environmental services company operating in North America.

Paul graduated from Clarion University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Finance and resides in the Houston area with his wife, Jeana and their two children.

Sherry D. Williams

Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Officer, Senior Vice President of Human Resources

Sherry D. Williams joined Strategic Materials as Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Officer and Senior Vice President of Human Resources in January 2021. 

Williams is an accomplished legal strategist and expert in managing compliance, with a proven ability to develop a culture of trust and integrity across the globe. Prior to joining Strategic Materials, she served as vice president, deputy general counsel and chief ethics and compliance officer for Jabil, an American worldwide manufacturing services company. She also served as senior vice president, chief ethics & compliance officer for Halliburton, one of the world’s largest oilfield service companies. 

Williams is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and earned her J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law.  When stepping away from legal duties, Williams serves on the Board of Directors for several non-profit organizations, including Brown Girls Do Ballet, which promotes diversity in the arts by providing annual scholarships, a mentor network, and community programs to empower young girls. 

Laurie Borg

President of Canada

Laurie Borg joined NexCycle Canada as President in March 2008 with responsibility for NexCycle’s Plastics recycling operations in Canada. His role was subsequently extended to encompass all Canadian glass operations and glass operations in New England and Upper Midwest in the United States.

Prior to joining the company Laurie was Chief Operating Officer for a large automotive and industrial plastics manufacturer, and held a variety of senior positions with KPMG and Ernst & Young specializing in the area of Mergers and Acquisitions.

Laurie has also served a number of boards representing the recycling area including directorships at GreenCentre Canada (2010 to 2013) and the Canadian Plastic Industry Association (2013 to 2017).

Laurie holds a Bachelor of Business in Accounting from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia and is a Chartered Accountant in Australia. He resides in the Toronto, Ontario area with his wife Sonia and two children.

Laura Hennemann

Senior Vice President, Sustainability & Corporate Affairs

With over a decade of environmental experience, Laura joined Strategic Materials in 2016, bringing a background in industrial by-product recycling and commercialization in 32 countries.  Today, Laura handles many recycling industry challenges through coordination with trade organizations, is an executive board member for the Glass Recycling Foundation (501c3 non-profit) and is an active member for the Glass Recycling Coalition and Glass Packaging Institute.  She also works with many industry-leading companies to promote and grow their sustainability programs for glass recycling. Laura holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Master of Business Administration from The Pennsylvania State University. She is LEED® Green Associate and Zero Waste TRUE Advisor.

Javier Lopez-Portillo

LATAM President

Before becoming a part of Strategic Materials in 2018, Javier Lopez-Portillo was the Commercial Director for Fevisa. He is the President of LatAm for Strategic Materials. Javier is responsible for developing and growing Mexico and LatAm operations as well as relationships with customers and suppliers.

He has twenty-seven years of diverse and progressively responsible experience in manufacturing operations, production, quality, assurance, new product development and customer support with the most recent four years in a business development leadership role for LatAm. He has twenty-three years of experience in the glass industry in Mexico and USA in companies such as Vitro (OI) and Fevisa. He has a proven track record of operational management success with substantial leadership experience of all functional areas of plant management including engineering, quality assurance, production management, new product development, technical support, human resources, plant administration and finance, sales, logistics, distribution, and trade compliance as well as a strong understanding of cost accounting and global trading compliance.

Javier graduated with a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering and has a minor in Industrial Engineering. He has recently finished his Masters of Science Global Leadership from University of San Diego. He resides in Mexico with his wife Ana and their three daughters.