Winning in a world of waste

It’s habit to end the year off with a recap of what’s happened in the resource sector.  We count the wins, bemoan the losses and then start to look at trends for the new year. Perhaps this year we should do something different – look at people, how they’re working, how they’re behaving and what their attitude is to the world around them.

So often in waste management the focus is on policies, regulations, infrastructure and service delivery. These matter, because they form the framework for a functioning sector. However, almost every time a new initiative is rolled out, there’s one thing that trips it up: people’s willingness to support it and put in the effort to make it work.

It happened when Simpler Recycling reforms were introduced in March. Suddenly communities were complaining that they didn’t know what went in which bin and that the new recycling regulations were still too complicated. It implied that things hadn’t been thought through…2 years after the reforms were initially announced. But headlines dating back to 2023 tell a different story:

82% of the UK public support consistent recycling policies in October 2023. But just 4 months later England’s household recycling rates fall to 43.4%. 2024 was a year of debate, highlighting different concerns on the reforms. How would local authority’s fund the required reforms? What would the impact be on residual waste? How would new forms of collect impact the quality of materials to be recycled?  

What this highlights is a common trend. Policy is recycled. Blame is recycled. And progress is stifled.

The same is happening with waste crime. It’s costing communities and authorities a fortune and everyone is blaming everyone else for not dealing with the problem.  The Environment Agency is accused of failing to tackle waste crime efficiently. Defra blames the waste sector for not doing enough. The House of Lords accuses Defra of complacency. Meanwhile, Defra cuts the EA's budget, and the Agency plans to shed up to 750 jobs.

Waste criminals couldn't be happier. Meanwhile everyone continues to debate what could or should be done, waste volumes keep increasing.

If these headlines are to be taken to heart, right now, winning the war on waste seems like an impossible task. The problem is that stopping or giving up is not an option, so what really needs to change?

In our 30 years of recruiting for the waste, resource and renewable sectors, we’ve found that there are three key aspects that make a profound difference to success: Attitude, behaviour and skills. In any role, whether it’s business development, operations or management, it’s rarely the most qualified person or the one with the most experience that guarantees success in a role. More often, it’s how they approach work situations, how they interact with colleagues, how they think about problems that occur. That’s what leads to success.

When people with the right combination of skills, attitude and behaviour are hired, it positively impacts operations, team morale, productivity and profitability. If we want to accelerate positive change in the sector, we believe that this is what we need to focus on.

It's why we’ve taken our bespoke skills-based approach to hiring and built a customised online assessment tool for hiring managers It’s why we look to psychology and science to back up evidence of top performing candidates. If it’s attitudes and behaviour that’s hindering progress in fighting waste crime and improving resource management, then it’s attitude and behaviour that has equal potential to turn the tide.

Here's to 2026 being the year the resource industry taps into the skills that can make a difference in more effective waste recovery. Here’s to the people bringing positive attitudes, behaviour and valuable skills to a sector with the potential to make a positive impact.