Education:
Undergraduate degree in Economics with Sports studies at University of Stirling then Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Studies at Graduate School of Environmental Studies at University of Strathclyde.
Current Job:
Waste Projects Officer
Employer:
Stirling Council
Following my postgraduate diploma I combined odd jobs with conservation volunteering with BTCV. This was a great experience, travelling around the central belt working on a wide variety of practical projects. After this I started working with a mobile phone and printer recovery company, firstly as a member of their customer care team then taking an opportunity to move into the team concerned with the environmental and quality management of the company. Again this provided me with a great range of experiences implementing environmental practices in a business sector context. My next job after this was with the Scottish Waste Awareness Group as a Campaigns Officer, working closely with several local authorities on waste awareness campaigns. I did this job for about 3 years before taking a break to travel for a short while. On my return I moved to my current post as Waste Projects Officer with Stirling Council.
What’s a typical day like?
Not sure I’ve had one of these yet. My post requires my involvement in a wide variety of activities, a good mixture between project management and practical implementation. As a team we deal with a lot of public enquiries regarding waste services across the area. This can be as simple as confirming collection days or providing recycling information whilst other enquiries involve visits or wider consultation. We also spend quite a few early mornings out and about with the collection crews for a variety of reasons. In smaller teams or as individuals we operate as project managers, working away on various areas of our waste strategy. Some projects require me to be knee deep in compost whilst others knee deep in data on a spreadsheet. There’s always something to be involved in.
Best bits of your job?
The variety, it’s a rare day that something interesting doesn’t happen around here. Some of the larger projects are really exciting if you like working with waste! We also have a good team and we help each other out a lot.
Worst bits of your job?
Getting up at the crack of dawn when the wind is howling and the rain chucking it down to go out with the collection crews can be a bit of a challenge.
What would you like to be doing in five years time?
I’d be happy doing much the same as a lot of the things we do are long term projects that take time to implement and settle in. I’m also interested in the environment as a whole so I’d like to work increasingly on projects that look beyond waste and connect various elements like climate change and transport.
What advice would you give to someone considering a career in waste management, prevention and recycling?
Remain interested and passionate. If you have spare time get as much experience as you can by volunteering. Keep up to date by joining an organisation like CIWM or IEMA. They will keep you up to date with interesting things happening in the industry as well as policy change, opinion and jobs. Try to keep abreast with legislation, it has been changing at a rate of knots over the last few years and it will continue to change for the foreseeable.
