As the resources and waste sector undergoes major change, professional standards and competence are more important than ever. Andrea Lockerbie explores why.
This year sees much-anticipated regulatory reforms shift from theory to reality, and with that, the need for the industry and its people to adapt the way they operate.
A key milestone is 31 March, which marks the start of the Simpler Recycling regulations for households in England. The legislation stipulate that the same set of materials, including food waste, must be collected for recycling.
Some local authorities already have these collections in place, while, for others, the regulations herald the start of new collection and processing regimes – and the requirement for people with the correct skills to undertake these roles.
Last year, Biffa announced it would create more than 250 jobs for Simpler Recycling, requiring drivers, loaders, supervisors and fleet technicians. Previous estimates suggested Simpler Recycling could create 9,500-11,500 new frontline and handling jobs.
The new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme is also aiming to ensure producers pay for the cost of disposing packaging they place on the market.
This will mean more interest in waste and recycling from other stakeholders, more focus on the materials used in packaging, more focus on the methods and costs associated with managing it as waste, and more focus on recycling performance.
All of this will need to be underpinned by improved skills and systems, from the collection and management of the materials to data collection and analysis, to better technology. On top of that, is the need for people with the skills to effectively communicate these changes to employees and stakeholders, including the public.
Reforms in the pipeline, such as the waste carrier, broker, dealer (CBD) system, and the delayed introduction of digital waste tracking, will also require technical competence and changes to how the industry and its people operate.
This should also help with the fight against waste crime, by improving accountability and traceability, as well as the sector’s reputation.
How the industry is adapting
This wave of change means the industry is having to keep itself updated.
Nathan Cookson, Head of Learning Development at CIWM says: “We have seen more demand in certain areas, like contract management, duty of care, waste classification, and digital tracking – the areas you would expect.”
“We know in this sector that things change very quickly. The learning and training offered is to prepare the sector to deliver that, and to communicate it effectively to people.”
For Simpler Recycling, which means change for hundreds of local authorities, CIWM has supported Defra to deliver free webinars on operational requirements through its Change Network.
The changes needed for Simpler Recycling have highlighted the importance of professional networks, in bringing people together to share knowledge and practical experience.
Cookson explains that change is constant and there is always a need to look at what lies ahead.
“Now, we are waiting for the Circular Economy growth plan to be published, and that will be a key driver for where the waste and resource management sector is going in the next five to 10 or even 50 years,” he says.
CIWM is also doing a piece of work around its own five-year strategy, and this includes looking at learning and development. Developments in digital and AI, how people want to consume learning content, and what constitutes best practice, will change how we learn in the future.
Structured skills development
A CIWM skills report in 2023 found that the sector will need 238,000 more skilled practitioners by 2040.
With an aging workforce, it is important to attract younger people into the sector – and to show them that attractive careers are on offer, with jobs ranging from engineering to chemistry to reuse.
Having a competency framework helps with this, as it maps out how to develop a successful career.
CIWM has developed a Skills Matrix which provides this framework, clearly setting out the competences needed to achieve success in a variety of roles at each career stage – making it just as relevant if you are at the start of your career, progressing through it, or re-entering the sector.
It can be used by both employers and employees and provides a focus for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and identifying specific training and development needs, which in turn helps to drive up professionalism and performance in the sector and make it a more attractive place to work.
Having these pathways mapped out, ensures that people are competent and confident in their roles, as well as up to date with industry best practice – which is important with all the changes underway.
Evolution in attitudes
CIWM trainer Daniel Roberts, who has been delivering the organisation’s Introduction to the Management of Wastes and Resources course for almost a decade, has seen firsthand how the course and the people who attend has changed as the industry has developed.
In the past, much focus would have been on landfill, but today waste prevention, circular economy, reuse and behaviour change are very much on the syllabus – and people arrive with much more awareness of these topics.
Attendees now come from sectors including the NHS, facilities, energy or infrastructure, and might have jobs in sustainability, finance or governance, as opposed to the waste sector – there is a demand beyond waste.
“We have definitely seen a change in attitudes and approach towards training,” he says. By that, he means that people are attending the course to find out how their organisation can improve and do better, as opposed to just meeting compliance requirements.
Roberts says: “As a sector, we’ve seen a lot of policies coming down the line for some time. We’re at the point where it’s now becoming an operational reality. We now need people in post to deliver these services and deliver them well.”
“As a trainer, it’s about getting the right balance of theory and what you need to do from a competence perspective. What do you need to know? And what do you need to learn to run this service safely, compliantly and well?”
“It never stops. And that is a good thing, in terms of that bar continually going up, because the public rightfully have an expectation of what their service looks like.”
“For me, competence isn’t reaching a target or ticking box and being ‘done’. It’s about working on how we improve what needs to come next. It’s about being able to say, we, as a sector, can deliver the people who can thrive and deliver this change – and that is crucial for public trust.”
Skills for the future
LinkedIn’s Green Skills Reports 2025 set out how ‘green skills’ are becoming increasingly important across a wide array of job titles. The green skills categories most frequently added by LinkedIn users in 2025 were Energy Management, Sustainability Education, Waste Prevention, and Sustainable Procurement.
The report summed up that green skills are now recognised in many industries as ‘bywords for skills that deliver what businesses and governments have always cared about – resilience, efficiency, competitiveness and innovation’.
It warned that policymakers, educators and companies now needed a more nuanced understanding of green skills, and to be able ‘to see and react to shifting needs and gaps as green skills are combined with AI skills, applied in different industries and to different challenges; from mitigation, to adaptation, to circularity’.
There are worries around green skills gaps – and how this will hold back net zero and circular economy ambitions.
Last October, the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3), the Institution of Chemical Engineers and the Royal Society of Chemistry set out their concerns in a joint report into the circular economy skills landscape.
They highlighted the growing and changing skills gaps, and how the current talent supply is struggling to meet this need.
One message from the report was the importance of embedding circular economy principles into all education pathways and the need for better recognition of vocational and alternative pathways.
But it also flagged the future need for greater emphasis on overarching skills, such as critical thinking, systems thinking, and inter- and cross-disciplinary and communication skills, which echoed a point raised in the 2021 CIWM Presidential Report, Skills for the Future.
With constant change in the sector, it’s essential that all levels of the industry keep their professional skills and knowledge up to date, to stay on top of – and ahead of – new regulations, standards and best practice.
Ensuring the industry operates professionally, is crucial for a successful shift to a circular economy and net zero, as it seeks to attract new people into the workforce, upskill those from within, and influence those it interacts and inter-operates with.
