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Maite Quinn, 33

President

Sprint Recycling

When she was in high school in Westfield, N.J., Maite Quinn wore a Mohawk. At Rutgers University, she grew her hair out and dyed it green. Suffice it to say that Ms. Quinn is used to standing out--although maybe not in quite the same way she does now.

Today, she's one of the highest-ranking women in the recycling industry, spinning commercial trash into usable materials. She's president of Sprint Recycling, a nine-year-old firm with 70 trucks, a staff of 112 and revenues of more than $20 million.

"Thanks to her and to her team, we are the largest recycler of office paper in New York City," says Joseph Donnolo, chairman of Sprint Recycling, and Ms. Quinn's boss. "She brought the bold ideas that transformed this company."

Not bad for someone who signed on at Sprint four years ago just to do some freelance marketing work."This is a really tough business, with terrible margins," says Ms. Quinn. "But I saw there was an opportunity to build the company and--no matter how corny this sounds--to do something for the environment."

Indeed, her concern doesn't stop with her job. She chairs the Manhattan Citizens' Solid Waste Advisory Board and the government affairs committee of the national Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, among other groups.

Back in her student days, during her summers off from Rutgers, Ms. Quinn interned for Sen. Edward Kennedy and for New Jersey Gov. James Florio. After college, she helped make television documentaries on everything from New York City's exterminators to a Little League team in Park Slope, Brooklyn--a project that grew into a 13-part miniseries for Nickelodeon.

"If I set a goal, I don't just say it; I do it," Ms. Quinn says.

- Erik Ipsen

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