Dr Adam Read MBE, Chief Sustainability & External Affairs Officer at SUEZ, shares his thoughts on whether the term ‘waste’ is putting off young people from the sector, how the sector should react if net zero policies are scrapped, and why a more compelling narrative is needed to attract the next generation of talent to green industries.
Throughout June, Circular Online is exploring how to make the resources and waste sector more attractive to the next generation of talent.
In a wide-ranging and insightful conversation, Dr Adam Read MBE discussed his thoughts on the challenges to achieving this goal and what changes could have the biggest impact.
Often people in the sector say they fell into their roles and ended up loving them. What steps can be taken to ensure resources and waste is a sector of choice for young professionals?
This rings true, and that’s because the sector and the opportunities it offers were not featured in schools or universities, neither in class nor as field trips nor with careers advisors. This has begun to change, but not quickly enough.
Firstly, we need to showcase the broad range of great careers available in the sector, profiling the transferable nature of the skills you can develop, which will make you attractive in many other walks of life. Looking ahead, we must identify the roles we will need in 3, 5 or 10 years and the associated skills.
Importantly, we must demonstrate that our sector is not ‘dirty’ or simply end of pipe, rather it offers good pay, with great training and development opportunities, and can be both technically and emotionally fulfilling as part of the transition to sustainable lifestyles and one planet living.
But we need the support of the government and the curricula, of school and university careers advisors and the major employers to make this happen!
Is terminology like ‘waste’ putting young people off pursuing a career in the sector? How does language need to change to improve sector attractiveness?
Totally! The incoming CIWM President Vicki Hughes is spot on when she talks about the negative impression that the word will conjure up for many young people; it certainly doesn’t shout meaningful employment, quality careers or personal satisfaction.
If it were as simple as replacing waste with resources, we might have done this a decade ago, but the term is less familiar to many. We need to ask real people – those looking at their careers, their education choices and their development – what they would react positively to, what would attract them to our sector, a sector in rapid transition, with so much potential and opportunity.
Is it about the circular economy? Our research suggests that’s unlikely. Is it about recycling, for some yes, but it is so much more than a phrase or word, it is a changing of the narrative about the sector that is most needed, outlining its role in creating a vibrant and resilient, resource efficient economy, one that supports decarbonisation, protects nature and creates shared value for local communities.
The incoming CIWM President’s campaign will help drive a new momentum around this in the coming year!
Is the link between sustainability, climate change, and net zero, and the sector widely understood? If this was clearer, do you think this would attract more talent to the sector?
Currently, I would have to say no, it isn’t. As a professional geographer, former university lecturer in environmental policy and management, and a STEM Ambassador, I can see these links and have been looking at them since the early 1990s.
So much of the work our sector has been delivering since then has been about environmental protection, reducing carbon impacts, managing harmful pollutants and protecting communities.
The evidence is there, the data is compelling, but we are failing to join these dots when it comes to the curriculum at secondary level and above, and to a lesser degree in our research and development programmes.
We need to demonstrate to the public at large the need to go beyond recycling, that the sector is working hard to drive resource efficiency, reducing the demand on our precious natural resources, and the need to rethink our throw-away society.
Maintaining the momentum built since Sir David Attenborough’s Blue Planet and using it to reposition our sector and the work it does in the public eye is critical.
You’ve previously written about the need to create a better narrative about the career opportunities of working in green industries. What should this narrative be?
I think this is clear, and I have been banging the drum since my Presidential Report was published in June 2021.
We need the next generation and the people guiding them – parents, school-leavers, graduates and careers advisors to put any preconceived ideas they might have about our sector to one side – landfill is increasingly a thing of the past, and a whole unseen world sits behind the collection services people experience day to day.
The sector has moved on and continues to advance at an unprecedented rate, bringing huge opportunities for those embarking on a career in the industry.
We need a mix of new skills, new capabilities, and new application, but we also need people with passion, people who can work alone and as part of a team, and results-driven people who can disrupt and make change happen.
As we grow our recycling capabilities, expand our recovery operations, and mainstream repair, refurb and reuse we will see a new generation of material specialists, handlers, and reprocessors blossom.
And we will also need advanced biologists, chemists and engineers to build the facilities of tomorrow, data scientists to drive innovation and efficiency, and entrepreneurs to drive new circular business models.
How exciting is all that? But to make the kind of progress that I was predicting back in 2021, we need to tell our story in a way that reaches and resonates with the next generation.
What skills does the sector need to attract in the short, medium and long term?
Right now, we need the drivers and front-line crews essential to the successful implementation of Simpler Recycling.
Looking ahead, we will need more staff at our HWRCs to intercept materials for recycling, repair and reuse, and engineers to build the technologies being rolled out to manage our materials, including AD, advanced MRFs and specialist battery recycling.
In the medium term, the focus will be on segregating, handling and upcycling materials, with a boom in repair and refurb for both electricals and furniture. There will also be a need for more technology innovation, from AI sorting to reverse logistics, just-in-time collections and of course, carbon capture.
In the longer term, the focus will be on circular business models, rental, leasing, and takeback – providing more bespoke services, whilst targeting niche material streams for reprocessing and working more closely with designers so that products and packaging are better aligned to the services we offer.
And of course, we have the unknowns – POPs, PFAs, vapes are just some of the materials we weren’t planning on managing just a decade ago. The sector deals with stress well and adaptability and responsiveness will be key attributes of the workforce in 2040.
CIWM called the withdrawal of funding for 16 apprenticeship standards by the UK Government a ‘missed opportunity’. What was your reaction to the plans?
I too was disappointed, given some of these roles are a natural entry point to the world of waste management and provide a valuable early career path.
However, I have been asking for a fresh approach to the Apprenticeship Levy for many years, so I welcome the government’s plans to utilise the budget to get young people into work.
But I fear the government completely missed the opportunity to support the green skills agenda, focusing on energy primarily, which, at the time, I said was short-sighted.
I continue to work with CIWM and Government to get the balance right, and Skills England is a key body for ensuring our sector, the skills needed, and the funding support are better aligned going forward.
How can government better support recruitment in green industries? Is it realistic to expect this policy support, especially with the polls indicating an explicitly anti-net-zero Reform-government winning the next election?
Government needs to complete the invaluable work undertaken by the Green Jobs Delivery Group that stalled when the last election was announced.
The cross-sector body had not only mapped out the skills and competencies needed to deliver net zero in more than a dozen sectors, but it had also assessed the transferable skills and the timing of any significant upskilling and employment, providing a clear picture of what roles would be needed when and where.
Unfortunately, this sits on a shelf in DEFRA, and whilst DESNZ have ploughed on with aspects of this work for the energy sector, the wider work and insight remain in limbo, growing more dated by the week!
The government needs to look at the skills work in both Scotland and Wales to see what is possible in terms of creating a credible view of future need, which provides trade bodies, employers and training institutes with clarity on the future demand for these skills and roles.
Alongside this, government must create policy certainty and stability as this will enable the likes of SUEZ to plan accordingly – new contracts, new sites, new technologies, new services, new people and new skills.
If Reform is successful, then as a sector we will have to pivot and demonstrate that the green skills needed are critical skills that will underpin local and regional economic growth.
Some of this narrative became evident in the last year of the Conservative administration and is seen in the Labour Government’s drive for growth – our sector is all about jobs, economic benefits and community wellbeing.
In the context of energy price rises, global resource risks and the opportunities for onshoring materials and jobs, this is a compelling narrative for any party’s manifesto.
What actions can the sector take to attract talent if there is no government appetite to provide support?
We’re not seeking financial support; we need policy certainty and a willingness to help make the sector more visible and more accessible for schools and colleges. In that scenario, the sector can do much of the heavy lifting.
If we know the goal posts won’t be changing any time soon, we can commit to recruitment programmes, training and development projects, apprenticeships, internships and mentoring programmes to build the workforce of tomorrow.
But if potential employees aren’t looking at our sector, then these programmes are inherently destined to underperform, which is why government can help through policy clarity and curriculum visibility – we stand ready to do the rest!
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