“My grandfather (‘pappou’ in Greek) taught me from a young age the importance of reusing everything as much as you can and minimising your waste where possible.”
“My grandfather (‘pappou’ in Greek) taught me from a young age the importance of reusing everything as much as you can and minimising your waste where possible.”
From a young age Paige Christodoulou knew that she wanted to play a part in making the world a more sustainable place.
“My grandfather (‘pappou’ in Greek) taught me from a young age the importance of reusing everything as much as you can and minimising your waste where possible,” says Paige of her early passion for recycling.
Paige’s journey with Cleanaway began during her student days at Deakin University where she was given an assignment to conduct a waste audit report for an international stationery company.
Through this audit the Bachelor of Environmental Science student identified large volumes of soft plastics that were being generated during the shipment of their products.
She also discovered that all of it was headed to landfill.
“The next step was to formulate a project plan to provide the company with a means to either reduce their soft plastics by altering how the products were packaged or to recycle the soft plastics.”
Paige’s waste audit report was mentioned during a chance encounter with her friend Carmel Bonadio from the Cleanaway Bids & Tenders team who insisted that it be sent to her.
“She was amazed with my report and could not believe how relevant it was to Cleanaway. Within a matter of weeks, she had passed it on to her manager Sophie O’Halloran who later became my Placement Coordinator.”
As a Cleanaway intern, Paige completed a white paper document that outlined current plastic streams and solutions in hospitals Australia wide. She worked with solutions experts from across Australia to collate the information she had gathered and identify the differences between the states which was a constant source of recycling confusion.
Pictured: The cover of Paige’s hospital plastics recycling report which was completed during her 10-week internship with Cleanaway.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the research component of my internship which consisted of interviewing hospital employees and plastic solutions experts, while also identifying new research studies regarding hospital plastic recycling.”
Paige adds, “Head of Marketing & Communications, Bids & Tenders Sophie O’Halloran and Sustainability Solutions Specialist Doug Claassen were a huge help in completing my report and were both a wealth of knowledge that I loved learning from!”
Upon her graduation in 2022, Paige rejoined the Cleanaway team as Resource Recovery Specialist and immediately hit the ground running.
“It is exhilarating to be able to reference my internship report in my current role at Cleanaway where I’m working on the Healthscope National Account to identify recyclers for hospital plastics.”
Pictured: Paige uses her report to help her identify potential plastics recyclers for hospitals in her current role as Resource Recovery Specialist.
When asked if she would recommend an internship with Cleanaway to students, Paige’s answer was a resounding “Yes!”
“I have actually already suggested Cleanaway to my university peers who were struggling to find placements in the sustainability field, just as I was.”
“I truly believe that my placement experience was the opportunity of a lifetime and I have learnt so much valuable information that I now use in my current role at Cleanaway.”
Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.