Your role at Beyondly sits at the intersection of resource efficiency, circularity and data, was sustainability already a passion for you before joining the sector?
Yes, maybe not with so much understanding, but I have always been incredibly passionate about the environment and climate change. I think this stems from my love of being outside and the British countryside, and the want to protect it!
However, my passion and interest intensified at university, where every lecture series seemed to finish on climate change and how it was impacting weather, glaciers, rivers, wilderness you name it, the series finished with how climate change was impacting it! When I joined the sector and became more interested in materials and resource management, I’m sure my old housemates can vouch the kitchen became a centre for collections of batteries, our neighbours vapes, films & flexibles and blister pill packets for recycling.
As CIWM’s first-ever Early Careers President, how do you define “early careers” and why is it important the sector broadens how it thinks about this group?
Early career is anyone new to the sector, for the CIWM we define this as someone with less than 10 years’ experience, so it is totally irrespective of age. For example, it could be a school leaver at 18 or someone who decides they want a career change and moves in the resource and waste sector after 30 years of teaching.
Early career professionals have the capacity to bring fresh, innovative and impactful ideas. We therefore need this group, their skills and insights, to be represented in our sector to enable the transition to circularity.
How can organisations better support career progression for people who may be pivoting into the sector mid-career rather than entering straight from education?
One massive step is to clearly define and recognise transferable skills that our sector needs. I think particularly, in relation to the circular economy we need mass upskilling as well as embracing the skill-sets people already have developed from other sectors. By establishing which core skills are transferable this will enable lateral transferability.
One skill I always think I lacked as a graduate was ‘system thinking’, which is something mid-career individuals are more likely to readily demonstrate. Organisations could utilise existing skills matrices help define and measure the skills required for roles within the resource and waste sector, giving incoming professionals areas of confidence and continued professional development. CIWM have an amazing skills matrix for our sector which can be accessed via their website.
Another easier trick could be removing domain levels from role descriptions such as ‘junior’ or ‘senior’ as this can sometimes be limiting to mid-sector entrants.
If you could change one structural or cultural norm in the sector to better support professionals entering this space for the first time, what would it be?
This is a hard question! I always think the language and terminology of how our sector is defined, is not the most accessible or appealing. ‘Waste’ has very negative connotations but calling ourselves ‘Resource Managers’ equally has accessibility limitations – what does ‘resource’ mean to the layman?
Similarly, terminology like ‘circular economy’ for someone with limited sector knowledge does not relate to sustainability well. I don’t have the answers of how we can change this, and it can sometimes be a contentious topic, but I do think we need to consider to an incoming professional the language we use to describe and present our sector, to better support them entering the space.
Public speaking and sector advocacy are a big part of your work, how do you balance technical expertise with making sustainability accessible and engaging?
I think for ‘waste’ we are unique in the sense, that waste is generated by everyone, so in a way people are always interested! It is easy to relate to in normal life. No matter where I am, whether at a squash game or a family party, when people know you work in waste and recycling, there are always so many questions: Can you recycle this? Is it true everything is just incinerated? Why are caps tethered? The list goes on! So, when talking about our sector, I always try to embrace this element of relatedness to keep people engaged and make it accessible.
I think I’m also always conscious with waste to immediately dispel the myths associated with ‘rubbish’, ‘waste’ and ‘bins’. Yes, roles within the sector can be dirty and smelly, but we have so many alternative roles, sub-sectors or opportunities for people to make impact, which is often misunderstood. So again, this is a priority for me when speaking or advocating the sector to ensure engagement.
Taking on a completely new role within CIWM comes with both opportunity and uncertainty. As you step down as Early Careers President in June, what impact are you most proud of creating?
Despite being the first Early Careers group and having so many amazing ideas and enthusiasm from the team of ambassadors. I am most proud of embedding the Early Career voice both within the CIWM and wider sector. Laying the path for future Early Career teams. Over the last year we have given more than 260 hours of volunteering, attending 52 events (that is one a week!), speaking or presenting at roughly half of those.
Whether through in-person events, webinars, podcasts or articles the Early Careers team is now an established part of the sector. Having this early career representation is setting precedent for organisations across the sector, driving positive change and building a community of like-minded professionals and growing the Early Career community. I cannot wait to continue supporting the new Early Career president Emma Mulligan from June in continuing greater engagements with universities, schools and incoming professionals.
Many people rely on the waste and resources sector every day without realising it. Do you think the sector gets the recognition it deserves and how could that be improved?
No definitely not! We are the secret bin fairies, that make the waste people generate disappear! I think it comes down to better education and understanding, particularly with how managing waste and resources ties into combatting climate change. Whether through social media, education in schools or direct consumer engagement we should drive behaviour change and better understanding of what happens to our waste.
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of the waste, resources and circular economy sector? What concerns you?
The sector is rapidly evolving with changes to technology, regulation and people’s perceptions, which is driving progression towards our climate goals. A great example is the implementation of packaging Extended Producer Responsibility, although slow and not perfect, we are directly seeing positive changes to packaging in our shopping trolley’s.
However, I do worry that a lack of legally binding targets, political instability and rising costs will create barriers to progress. Already in my daily work we are seeing companies reducing sustainability budgets and failing to meet internal goals. Particularly with rising costs, businesses are slashing budgets towards sustainability projects with money going to more business-critical activities.
Sustainability has always been a bolt, and even more so with certain barriers. I’m fearful this will continue, but we need systemic change to achieve circularity and broader sustainability.