As President and Chief Executive Officer, Glenn R. Rink has led AbTech Industries, Inc. in its commitment to Green Tech innovation, pioneering cutting-edge clean water solutions to meet community and industry needs for over a decade.
Over the years, AbTech and its CEO, Glenn Rink have received numerous awards focused on the novel, highly-effective SmartSponge® filtration media. During the most recent years, AbTech placed first in the Artemis Project Top-50 Water Companies competition in both 2011 and 2012; Time Magazine named Glenn “Entrepreneurial Hero” in its 2009 “Time 100” issue; and AbTech Industries, Inc. was selected by Always On as a Going Green Top 100 Company and the winner of their overall Water Technologies Water Management award. Mr. Rink has appeared on Discovery Chanel’s Planet Green, Good Morning America, Science Channel, Bloomberg Radio, Fox Business Network, and CBS MoneyWatch. Most recently Mr. Rink was featured in the Fast Company release of 100 Most Creative People in Business and AbTech has been featured in numerous key water trade publications and Inc. Magazine.
Prior to taking the company public in 2011 Mr. Rink strategically managed AbTech’s growth from a startup R&D venture to an over 30-million-dollar-invested environmental technologies firm through the development, engineering, testing and commercial deployment of the patented Smart Sponge® technology – a unique polymer technology that is chemically selective to hydrocarbons. Diverse applications allow it to target multiple avenues of water contamination including stormwater runoff which, according to the EPA, is the leading cause of water pollution. Smart Sponge® is currently installed in over 15,000 locations across America and in 8 countries treating produced water and industrial waste water in fracking operations, nuclear power generation and chemical shipping tankers, to name a few.
From 1992 to 1995, Glenn served as the president of HydroGrowth International, an agricultural products company that specializes in aqueous absorption polymer technology. The advancement of this technology at HydroGrowth expanded into the development and application of polymer technologies to hydrocarbons and fostered the founding of AbTech.
Prior to founding HydroGrowth, Glenn was involved in the restaurant industry where he participated in business acquisitions and expansions that resulted in the creation of a successful restaurant franchise business.
Mr. Rink currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc., a nonprofit organization noted as the largest and fastest growing environmental group focused on Water. He is a passionate advocate for the environment.