Trevor Nicoll, Head of the Greater Cambridge Shared Waste Service, was yesterday (Tuesday) inaugurated as the 104th President of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) at Downing College, Cambridge.
The CIWM’s mission is ‘to influence, inform and inspire the sustainable management of resources and waste’. The professional body has more than 5,500 members who work in or with the resource and waste management sector. It provides an impartial, influential and respected voice for the sector in policy discussions in Belfast, Brussels, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh and London.
Trevor said: “More and more people want to do what they can to reduce, reuse and recycle and this is a unique opportunity to work towards this aim, which is shared by people in Greater Cambridge and across the country. I’m particularly keen on helping residents to cut down on the amount of waste they create – even before they think about recycling what’s left. We need to be thinking about this even before we reach the checkouts. Whether it’s choosing a product without packaging or making sure we only buy the food we need, we can all do our bit to look after the environment wherever we are. I’m proud to be taking on this prestigious role and am looking forward to sharing my experiences from Greater Cambridge to colleagues nationally and to learn from them. Environmental issues are never far from the news and we all need to take advantage of this increased public awareness to take better care of our planet, whether it’s producing less waste, preventing fly-tipping or improving recycling systems.
“The resources and waste sector currently employs a direct workforce of over 150,000, and by 2030 this could have grown to over 600,000 jobs in wider circular economy. This means we need to attract and retain people with a wide range of skills from engineering to product design and from behaviour change to logistics and transport. As part of my inauguration I am delighted to release a new careers toolkit developed in partnership with Global Action Plan to equip and inspire students in secondary schools and colleges to consider and explore careers in the resources and waste management sector.”
Trevor Nicoll joined the Greater Cambridge Shared Waste Service in September 2017 and has since helped residents across Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire to increase their recycling rates. Under his leadership, the Shared Waste Service has become more efficient through the use of technology such as in-vehicle systems that improve communications between bin crews and residents. The Greater Cambridge Shared Waste Service is a partnership between South Cambridgeshire District and Cambridge City Councils.
Prior to this, Trevor was Head of Recycling, Waste and Fleet Services at Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council in North Staffordshire. He has also been a waste management consultant.
Sarah Poulter, Chief Executive of CIWM said: “Trevor has served CIWM for many years, as a Chartered Member, a Centre Councillor, and a Trustee. He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the role of President at a time when the resources and waste sector is going through a rapid period of change. The sector has a huge contribution to make to delivering clean low carbon growth and helping to tackle climate change and Trevor is very focused on ensuring that the CIWM's collective body of expertise makes a difference in these important agendas.”