Young Professionals NSW

The NSW Young Professionals (YP) is a working group of the Waste Management Association of Australia (WMAA) that aims to encourage professional development of young professionals in the waste management industry and tertiary students in waste management disciplines.

Our mission is to provide a forum for professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals by facilitating events and activities that expose young professionals to the waste industry and increase their skills, knowledge, and understanding of waste management issues, in addition to assisting development of strong links with tertiary institutions, other industry associations and young professionals groups.

The YP working group organises and hosts a variety of events and activities that include site visits to a range of waste management facilities, information sessions for tertiary students, technical and informal presentations by industry expert guest speakers via professional development courses and our unique ‘brekkie catch ups’. We also offer an annual scholarship that provides an opportunity for young professionals to attend a technical conference anywhere in the world. Ultimately, we orchestrate social networking events with our renowned Sundowners!

An initiative launched by the YP working group in 2009 was the Women of Waste event. A WMAA first, in conjunction with promoting the career opportunities of women today in the waste industry, funds and awareness of Breast Cancer issues were also raised. This successful event has been added to the YP group’s calendar of events and 2010 promises to be even bigger! Go to our events page for further details.

The objectives of the YP working group are:

• To organise programs that increase the skills, knowledge and experience of young professionals;
• To provide opportunities for young professionals to network with others new to the waste industry, in addition to more experienced  professionals;
• To facilitate career development in the waste industry by providing exposure to a range of business environments; and
• To empower young professionals to take an active role in the waste industry through wider WMAA activities.
  

• Increased skills and knowledge transfer of young professionals allowing better understanding of waste management issues;
• Stronger links with tertiary institutions, and across other industry associations and young professionals groups;
• Active engagement of young professionals in the waste industry such as presentations by young professionals at technical conferences and seminars; and
• Increased membership and more active involvement of young professionals and students interested in the waste discipline in the WMAA.