Resourceful women powering our business

We know how important positive role models can be when it comes to carving out career pathways in the waste and resource management industry.

At EnviroWaste/Enviro NZ we’re working to boost female representation across all levels of our organisation. To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, we wanted to raise the visibility of some of the exceptional people who power our work. We hope you'll be inspired by their stories and consider taking the next step in your career with us! 

Caroline Brown, Operations Supervisor

As a self-described multitasker who loves to learn and gets bored easily, Caroline Brown thrives on the variety and challenge of her role.

The Hamilton operations supervisor has been in the recycling industry for 16 years – much of that time spent across the ditch, working in big recycling plants in Gold Coast, Brisbane and Canberra. "I wanted to learn and drive everything that had wheels, which is what got me where I am today," she says.

Caroline (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato-Tainui) moved back to New Zealand in 2020 to be closer to her mum – and at the perfect time to help us get Hamilton's new recycling facility up and running.  Her two sons Aaron and Tahi followed her into the industry, first working in Australia and now joining her at our Hamilton MRF.

What's your role here?

I've been working for EnviroWaste for nearly two and a half years now. I'm the operations supervisor for the material recycling facility, our MRF, in Hamilton. All of Hamilton's recycling from the kerbside yellow bins comes here. I've also recently taken on the transfer station for Sunshine Avenue as well. We have two shifts here in the MRF, so on a day-to-day basis, I'm making sure we have all daily data inputs, everybody's here, training, everything is done.

What do you find most rewarding about your work?

Everything going right, everybody doing the job and loving it. If you got the right team, you can just feel it. They come in with smiles, they'll leave with smiles at the end of the day. And with recycling, you're saving the environment.

Who was an inspiring woman leader to you growing up and who inspires you now?

It's always been my mum. She was a master weaver. I lost her recently last year. And she is the one that I follow: hardworking, all about the family, work life as well.

What words of encouragement would you give to other women thinking about a career in our industry?

Go for gold! Someone says that you can't? Yeah, nah, I've proven that you can.  Starting out, there were not very many women in this role that I could see. So now I'm always here with our women that want to have a go. I'll show you how because you can do it. It's challenging, but if you do like that type of thing, it is doable.

Corrine Taylor, General Manager of People and Safety

What makes Corrine Taylor tick? "Making sure we have a workplace that enables our employees to come and do their job, be the best they can be and then get home safely to their family and friends."

With a background in HR that saw her living in places such as Papua New Guinea and Ghana, she joined Enviro NZ in January 2021 and was promoted to our executive team in August last year.

She says the industry’s focus on sustainability is a big drawcard for job hunters. "We are no longer simply managing waste, that's part of what we do but we are about resource recovery and recycling too – sustainability is sexy!"

What's your role here?

I lead the People and Safety teams – with the People and Culture side I work with all parts of our employee processes from onboarding to remuneration, training and change management.  In the Safety side of my role, I work with my teams across the country to make sure each and every day that all of us can get home safely.  This has wide applications from training, systems and processes all designed to keep our teams safe. It's a really cool job.

What words of encouragement would you give to other women thinking about a career in our industry?

The "waste" industry name hasn't moved with the times; we are no longer simply managing waste, that's part of what we do but we are about resource recovery and recycling – sustainability is sexy! We need to think about how we market what we do, whilst "picking up rubbish" is part of our remit it's about a whole lot more than that. We really want more women in this industry in all areas of it; it's ideal for job-sharing and we are all about flexing around this in order to get women onboard.

What do you find most rewarding about your job?

Making sure we have a workplace that enables our employees to come and do their job, be the best they can be and then get home safely to their family and friends.  We do everything within our remit to make this happen. It's a really cool job. I get to put initiatives in place to expand, improve and grow our practices. The challenges are that we need to collaborate and be conscious of balancing our collections teams with our customers' needs; we need to balance this with new initiatives which means taking them out of their primary roles in order to grow. 

Who was an inspiring woman leader to you growing up and who inspires you now?

My grandmother – she had so much authenticity.  What you saw was what you got; she had high levels of empathy in all areas of her life and our wider family's life.  It was obvious by how she led the household, raised her children and interacted with those around her.  That's how I want people to see me; I want them to trust me to be transparent, have respect and be authentic.

What progress are we making towards improving gender diversity?

On our frontlines – it's a work in progress.  Our diversity starts to show itself more in the administrative or office-based roles. I would like to rebalance our male/female workforce profile.  Our gender imbalance is heavily influenced by role type.  We are looking at options around driver training, job sharing, flexi-hours for instance to attract more women into our industry.

Dawn Nathan, Driver

"I like to challenge myself every day," says Auckland's Dawn Nathan, who drives one of the biggest trucks in our fleet – a 48 tonne capacity refill truck, used to transport organics, recovered wood and waste collected at our transfer stations.

Dawn (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Te Orewai) has over 30 years' experience as a driver, six of them with Enviro NZ.  

She admits she had to get out of her comfort zone to get behind the wheel of a big rig – and she encourages others interested in this career to back themselves and go for it. "I never thought I'd be able to drive a truck at all. Next minute, I'm driving trucks. So if I can do it – and I know there are so many female drivers out there and they can do it – we can do it."

What do you love about your job – what do you find most rewarding about your role?

Every day is a different day, even though we're travelling on the same road. I enjoy it. I love being outdoors. I hate being stuck indoors. Driving is in my blood because both my parents were drivers.

It's hard work. Everyone says how many loads you do? I'd say I do two to three loads but it takes us about 10 to 12 hours a day to do all that.

I like to challenge myself every day. Like I can do a better day. And then the next day I try and better what I've done the day before.

I get on so well with my mates with my co-workers. You can joke around with them but then you also focus on your job as well. And I just love being out there.

Who was an inspiring woman leader to you growing up and who inspires you now?

Definitely my mum. She has worked her whole life and she still is working. She'll be 80 in May. She has retired but she can't sit still. She's always got to be doing something. Having been brought up by her I was taught how to do things correctly.

As well as for her driving – she spent 30 years on the buses. My dad also inspires me to be a better driver because growing up with them, and just watching and learning from them is one of the best things. They're both really proud of what I've achieved in driving, which is amazing, because they both drive.

What words of encouragement would you give to other women thinking about a career in our industry?

If you want to do something, go out and do it. If you want to do it and you know you can do a good job at it, don't put it on hold. You need to trust and believe in yourself.

To do what I'm doing now, it took me a long time. My cousin got me into this job. She knew I had all my licences and she kept telling me just go for it, just go for an interview. I said no because I was so used to being where I was and I didn't want to get out of my comfort zone. But in the end, I decided okay, why not? I can you know, go for an interview, go for a drive and just take it from there. And then, hello!  I'm driving trucks six years later.

Sharon Funnell, Weighbridge Operator 

Sharon Funnell is one of the friendly faces that greets regulars entering the busy Hokitika Transfer Station.

What's your role here?

My role is weighbridge operator, admin and pretty much jack of all trades. We all bale cardboard, check the separate colour glass crates on site and provide shop sales. We are a seven day a week site. The only thing you need is good customer skills.

What do you find most rewarding about your work?

Most rewarding is meeting and serving some of the wonderful people I have met over the years.

Who was an inspiring woman leader to you growing up and who inspires you now?

I think my mum would be that. She grew up in an orphanage and went on to have three children without any knowledge of family life or family support. One thing she said to me when my children were young is " Sharon you must bring your children up to be survivors." What she meant was being able to adapt, be independent, self-assured and honest. Looking at my children now I think I have achieved that.

What words of encouragement would you give to other women thinking about a career in our industry?

If the job sounds like you, just give it a go. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Katharine Toomey, General Counsel

“We work hard but we also have a laugh and support one another,” says Katharine Toomey who leads our legal, quality and communications functions. Katharine's all-female legal team was highly commended in the people and culture category at 2022 In-house Lawyers Association of New Zealand Awards. 

"While we are a largely male-dominated industry, my experience is that both men and women in this industry are nothing short of supportive."

What words of encouragement would you give to other women thinking about a career in our industry?

The people are genuine and real. This is what drew me back to the industry after a number of years. This industry is diverse and complex so no two days will be the same.

What do you find most rewarding about your job?

The people here and in particular working with some exceptional humans in the legal, quality and communications teams.

Who was an inspiring woman leader to you growing up and who inspires you now?

I have had the privilege of working with a number of intelligent and exceptional leaders but one in particular (in the waste industry in Australia) showed me what good leadership looked like. Showing up for your people with compassion and empathy and supporting them both personally and professionally.

Yana George, New Plymouth Manager Infrastructure

Yana George started with EnviroWaste five years ago. She runs New Plymouth's materials recovery facility (MRF) and newly opened transfer station, which are designed to make it easier for communities to recycle as much material as they possibly can. It's something she's hugely passionate about. "Every bale of recovered recycling we produce is not going to landfill, it’s not in our oceans or rivers, and that makes me immensely proud of my team."

Yana says, “Stereotypes are made to be broken, they’re just labels.” She doesn’t subscribe to the idea that women should remain in desk-based jobs just because they’re women. “Ability is not based on gender.  Everyone has the ability to learn and excel. If you want to do something, take the first step and try.”

What’s your role here?

I am the manager of the MRF and the refuse transfer station in New Plymouth.

I think a practical approach to anything helps, common sense and a need to know is what has grown my skills. I love learning new things. An understanding of processes and how things work is all you need to oversee a plant and machinery.  I’m very lucky to have a host of really great people to assist me, I call for help and they drop tools to be here as quickly as they can.  I am also blessed with a great team of dedicated staff.\

What do you find most rewarding about your job?

I often say the best part of my job is the people.  I am very fortunate to work with some really dedicated individuals.  We don’t have glamorous or easy jobs in the waste industry, but we all do them knowing there is a greater good at play.  Every bale of recovered recycling we produce is not going to landfill, it’s not in our oceans or rivers, and that makes me immensely proud of my team.  My RTS team are doing their best to recover as much product and divert it from landfill as possible and they are educating the public who use our facility.  My team have my back and I have theirs.

Who was an inspiring woman leader to you growing up and who inspires you now?

Growing up, my mum was my hero.  She could do everything.  She taught me I could do anything.   I have looked up to many women in my life including Rosa Parkes and Kate Sheppard.  I also admire Jacinda Ardern (politics aside) – I think she has led the way for women in top jobs.  Most recently and closer to home, my manager, Cathryn Taylor inspires me every single day.

What words of encouragement would you give to other women thinking about a career in our industry?

Get on with it. During the world wars when men went overseas to fight; women were left to do everything at home, run farms and businesses bring up the family and provide everything for them.  They did it well with limited resources, we can still do it.

Jennifer Laurent, Te Kuiti Landfill Supervisor  

Jenn is a relative newcomer to our team - she celebrated her two-year work anniversary at the start of March. She hails from Papakura in South Auckland, and before joining our industry, worked as a forklift driver at Waikeria prison and as a vehicle detailer.

What’s your role here?

As the site supervisor, I operate landfill plant and machinery, compacting waste into the open cell. I have to make sure all machinery is in working order and safe to use, that the transfer station is tidy and presentable and fit for purpose for the public. I'm in regular contact with the local council to update them on what goes on site, and I'm in contact with contractors and mechanics when I need them. What I find most rewarding in my job is having each cell covered and the landfill looking amazing.

Who was an inspiring woman leader to you growing up and who inspires you now?

My mum inspires me, she always put other people’s needs first before her own. My mum had a brain tumour in 2020 and has recovered fully from the surgery. She makes jokes of her wonky head as some of the bone was taken away. My mum is an amazing, brave, strong woman. 

What words of encouragement would you give to other women thinking about a career in our industry?

Go for what you want. Never let anyone influence your goals or any of your decisions. Be strong and go for what makes you happy.

Diane Liu, Financial Controller

As an accountant, Diane Liu jokes she's a big fan of a "good spreadsheet". She's also a big fan of the people who work here.

Diane joined Enviro NZ nearly a decade ago. "Since then, I've been grateful to have had many opportunities for growth and development, which have enabled me to progress. A couple of years ago I was promoted to Financial Controller and this has allowed me to take on even greater responsibility and contribute to the company's ongoing success.

What’s your role here?

As the Financial Controller, my day to day responsibilities are diverse but typically involves a good excel spreadsheet. I am responsible for overseeing the finance function of the company, including the areas of accounting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and payroll, as well as ensuring compliance with finance and tax regulations and reporting to shareholders. What I find most rewarding about my role is seeing how the finance function supports the business in achieving its day to day objectives and overall strategy.

Who was an inspiring woman leader to you growing up and who inspires you now?

Throughout my life, my mother has been a source of inspiration, shaping my values and beliefs and providing me with guidance and support. Her unwavering support and encouragement have been invaluable to me. An inspiration for me now would be Lisa Carrington our GOAT in a boat (greatest of all time).

What words of encouragement would you give to other women thinking about a career in our industry?

I encourage and support other women who are interested in pursuing a career in our industry, as it plays a critical role in protecting the environment and public health. Each of us working for the company is committed to a more sustainable future, as the company continuously implements new innovations and technologies to reduce our environmental footprint. I am proud to be a part of a team that is dedicated to making a positive impact and contributing to a more sustainable world.