Rubbish Talk

In Episode 20 of the Rubbish Talk Podcast, we embark on a journey through the complex world of environmental sustainability, guided by the expertise of Erina Brown, a dedicated PHD student from Strathclyde University. Erina's mission revolves around understanding and combatting the pervasive issue of microplastics and their profound effects on pollution. Don't miss the opportunity to explo...

On this episode of Rubbish Talk , we speak to Bruce McLean from CCL North and Restructa.  Bruce McLean has been actively involved in recycling of electrical and electronic equipment for over 25 years.  You can discover more about CCL North & Restructa . This episode features some Albion achievements and interesting new waste management acronyms!

Episode 18: Debbie Neely, Entrust Environmental On this episode of Rubbish Talk , we speak to Debbie Neely from Entrust Environmental.  Debbie has worked in the industry for nearly 30 years, mainly working with organics, soils and legislation surrounding these areas.  You can discover more about Entrust Environmental here . This episode features some interesting stories as well as exciting news fo...

Episode 17: Laura Young, Award Winning Climate Activist & Ethical Influencer On this super exciting episode of Rubbish Talk , we spoke with Laura Young, award winning climate activist, environmental scientist, and ethical influencer. Laura was recently awarded the ⁠Scottish Influencer of the Year - Inspiration⁠ for her work. Laura discusses life as a PHD student and expands on her mission to b...

Episode 16: Charlie Devine from Dundee Waste Partnership  On episode 16 of the Rubbish Talk podcast, we spoke with Charlie Devine, Service Manager for the Waste Partnership in Dundee City Council. Charlie has 30 plus years of involvement and experience within the waste and resources sector and is currently the Service Manager for the Waste Partnership at Dundee City Council which is an innovative...

Episode 15: Scott Butler from Material Focus On episode 15 of the Rubbish Talk podcast, we spoke to Scott Butler, Executive Director at Material Focus. Scott set up Material Focus, a not-for-profit organisation to build a world where materials are never wasted.  Before Material Focus, he set up and ran the UK operation for the European Recycling Platform (ERP), delivering environmental compliance...

Episode 14: Gail Martin from CIWM On episode 14 of the Rubbish Talk podcast, we spoke to Gail Martin, Centre Engagement Manager at CIWM. Gail initially joined the resources and wastes sector on a temporary contract where she quickly developed an interest and passion for the sector. For more information on the news articles discussed please visit the Rubbish Talk  website.

Episode 13: Robin Stevenson from Hamilton Waste On episode 13 of the Rubbish Talk podcast, we spoke to Robin Stevenson, Managing Director at Hamilton Waste. Over the past 5 years Robin has inspired significant change within the industry, with Hamilton Waste becoming the first Scottish waste management company to attain a carbon neutral status through implementing a dedicated strategy of mitigation...

In episode 12 we talk to Jane Bond who has  worked in the waste industry for over 30 years in a variety of roles with consultancy, local authority and SEPA. Jane is currently the Project and Business Development Director at Albion Environmental (when she is not out on her bike!). In this episode Jane shares details of her current role and how she ended up in the industry with some interesting stor...

On episode 11 of the Rubbish Talk podcast, we have a great chat with George Niblock. A man with over 50 years experience in the Waste industry, George started his journey as an Apprentice Sanitary Inspector, working his way to Director of Environmental Health and then running his own consultancy Niblock Environmental Ltd for 14 years. George was Chair of CIWM SCC during their Centenary year and is...

We have a great chat with Jenny Grant, head of organics and natural capital for the REA (the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology), who has been involved in the organics and recycling industry for 20 years. REA Organics promotes the benefits of composting, aerobic and anaerobic digestion and other biological treatment and the use of biologically treated materials. Jenny works with...

We made it to Episode 10!! We have a great chat with Pamela Knox-Welsh, who is communications manager at Levenseat. Pamela has worked in the Waste Management industry for 9 years now and tells us how her unlikely journey began and how she has grown and progressed within the industry. We chatted about the commercial side of the industry, and hear about some of the exciting projects Pamela is workin...

Albion recently purchased a new bit of technology, which was the Matoha PlasTell Machine. We tested the machine with some plastics in the office and uploaded a video to our social media showcasing our trial run. It got a lot of attention on LinkedIn from people across the industry, and we were flooded with questions about the capabilities of the machine. We have now taken the machine on site and u...

On episode 9 of the Rubbish Talk podcast, we chatted to Jim Brown, Commercial Director at Binn Group. Jim has worked in the waste and recycling industry for over 30 years providing proactive waste management solutions for businesses across the UK with specialist knowledge of Retail, Public Sector / NHS, Food and drink, construction, and industrial sectors. He has spent the last 9 years at Binn Gro...

We have a Rubbish Talk first this week - Simon Glen is our first guest who purposely entered the waste industry!! We have a great chat with Simon where he explains how he went from an economics, philosophy and social science degree to a Masters in Waste Management and never looked back. With a dynamic mix of projects under his belt, we discuss Simon's current role working across 2 businesses,...

Against all odds we have this week's episode with Ruth Innes! Some technical issues caused us to nearly lose the recording, but we are glad to share our really insightful chat with Ruth.  We talk all about Ruth's route to working in waste management, the important role of NHS Scotland Assure and how they are implementing great changes to help decarbonise and manage waste within the NHS. ...

We sat down with CEO of Cireco, Robin Baird to discuss his own journey into the waste and resource management industry and he shares his current objectives for his role at Cireco. Robin shares a lot of great advice for anyone starting out in their career and what we think is some great life advice!  Robin quotes " The Man in the Mirror " poem (no, not the Michael Jackson song) which we think...

We had a really interesting chat with Laura Tainsh from Davidson Chalmers Stewart. Laura is the lead partner in the Environmental & Waste Team at DCS and discusses her career as an environmental lawyer. We chatted about everything from learning on the job, first visits to landfill sites and how to influence your friends and neighbours to recycle better!  Laura shares some advice for anyon...

We sit down with Amanda to talk about her career in Health & Safety and how she ended up working in the waste sector. She shares the highs and lows of her career journey and shares her knowledge on plastics recycling and how we can all create less waste! WRC Recycling are committed to providing an exceptional waste management service, from start to finish, for any size of business. They priori...

This week we talk to Grant Keenan, Managing Director of Keenan Recycling.  Keenan Recycling was founded in 2001 starting off as a garden waste composting business and growing to become the largest food and gardening recycling business in Scotland. The company is focused on creating a more circular economy, running Europe’s largest In-Vessel Compositing plant and turning our food and garden wa...

On the first episode of Rubbish Talk, Albion Environmental director and Rubbish Talk Podcast creator Alasdair Meldrum is interviewed by one of his co-hosts Heather Beattie. We discuss Alasdair’s career journey in the waste and resource management industry, how he started his own waste management consultancy, and how his running helps him to switch off from work as a business owner. You can find Al...

Host Alasdair Meldrum and co-host Heather Beattie introduce the Rubbish Talk podcast. First official episode will be released on Thursday 5th January 2023. If you have any questions, topics you’d like us to cover, guests you’d like to hear on the podcast, or just want to rant about rubbish, please get in touch by emailing heather@albion-environmental.co.uk New episodes will be released fortnightly...