Alasdair Jackson

Alasdair has been with Recycling Lives since 2004, helping to grow it from being a regional business with charitable aims to a respected organisation comprising both a national business and separate sector-leading social enterprise.

He has always been hands-on across his roles, initially responsible for Recycling Lives Ltd.’s operations as well as conceiving the idea for and rolling out Recycling Lives’ HMP Academies offender rehabilitation programme. 

In 2018, he moved from the business to become Chief Executive of the Recycling Lives Charity which changes lives through offender rehabilitation, residential support, and food redistribution.

Alasdair is recognised by colleagues, business leaders, prison governors and ministers as being the driving force of Recycling Lives’ significant success in rehabilitating offenders. His work – leading the teams across 11 prisons and working with employers to create employment opportunities – has led to an impressive success rate in engaging ex-offenders in meaningful work and training, supporting improved lifestyles and better life chances, and ultimately reducing reoffending. He was handed the Criminal Justice Champion award by the Howard League while Recycling Lives has won awards with the Corbett Network, Business in the Community and National Recycling Awards for its work combining recycling and rehabilitation.

He is a board member of the Employment Advisory Boards’ National Oversight Board, holds the seat for Employment on the Third Sector Reducing Reoffending Board and is Chari of HMP Preston’s Employment Advisory Board. 

Alasdair was awarded the OBE for services to reducing reoffending in the King’s Honours List in 2023.