Meet Agnes Starnawska, BRCL's Waste Manager and find out how you can act more sustainably.

Agnes Starnawska recently joined the estates team on campus to develop our sustainability and waste management practices further. We interviewed Agnes to introduce her to the Campus, read the interview below.

Tell us about you and your background:

I am passionate about animals and the environment and I love maths so environmental engineering sounded like a perfect career path for me. It is exciting to use technology to reduce human impact on the planet.?

Throughout my career I have been involved in sustainability and innovation projects focused on converting things that people discard such as green, food and packaging waste into new products, giving them new life.

What inspired you about joining us on campus?

I have not come across a campus quite like Babraham Research Campus before and I find it fascinating how science and nature co-exist and thrive together here.

I want to ensure that waste management on Campus is not only consistent and straightforward, but most importantly at the forefront of carbon footprint reduction, minimising our impact on the environment and making our operations efficient.

Why is waste management so important?

Correct and efficient waste management is becoming more and more important. Firstly from an environmental aspect, we only have this one planet to live on and it is vital that we look after it to make sure future generations have access to the same resources we do, but also from an economical point of view.

What are your three top tips for Campus Companies regarding waste?

Apply circular economy principles – involve everyone in your supply chain to eliminate waste and pollution, avoid unnecessary purchases and keep materials in use as long as possible by buying reusable and recyclable items.

Understand the waste you produce - audit what waste you produce and how much of it!

Have a robust and uniform recycling system. Once different waste streams are mixed it is very hard to separate and recycle them.

How have you found your first month on Campus?

My first month at BRC flew by and I enjoyed every single day! Everyone made me feel very welcome and took time to introduce their department and tell me more about their roles and responsibilities.

I had an absolute pleasure to join the Green Impact Campus Group and it was fascinating to learn about AI impact on environment. So it has been a very interesting and educational month and I look forward to learning more!