Aukje – PR en Content Executive
After her studies, Aukje worked for international media for many years. She travelled the world to produce reports on economic countries with the aim of promoting the country and/or improving its (economic) image. She did this for 10 years and then returned to the Netherlands. She soon discovered that SMEs (medium and small enterprises) were struggling to keep up and implement online communication tools. She then decided to become self-employed to help SMEs with their online findability and visibility. After 4.5 years, she missed colleagues, self-development and working with a purpose, which means working with a social ambition, and therefore decided to take on a new challenge.
‘Years ago, I did a project on the circular economy in Belgium. Here I interviewed many companies within that sector, including Renewi. As a result, I found out how interesting this sector is. I remember my colleagues at the time saying, ‘what is it with you and waste!’ People often unfortunately only see waste but there is so much more to it! During this project, I learned that waste is not the end, but only the beginning of the journey. Indeed, in a circular economy, waste does not exist. Renewi has the slogan ‘waste does not exist’ for a reason. The social importance, constant movement, many collaborations and innovation really attracted me. The fact that new products are created from waste excited me a lot! Later, I came across the vacancy ‘Content and PR Executive at Renewi. This matched what I was looking for in a job.’
A day as a Content and PR Executive
‘’No two days are the same! When I look at my schedule, I see that two social media posts are going out. My job is to make sure they are catchy. I have also received an internal email that a press release has been approved, so there is a need to make sure the press picks it up and places it. In the afternoon, I have an interview about a new investment Renewi has made that needs to be communicated about. I end the day with a meeting with the fun, driven, external communications team to discuss ongoing issues. ‘Last-minute’ tasks regularly come flying in, so I have to adjust my schedule regularly. If I have to describe my work in 1 sentence, I write something worth reading or we do something worth writing about. ‘’
Hybrid working increasingly important.
‘’I work hybrid, and this means I work in the office one day and at home the next. When I work at home, I can focus well on writing posts. The office is important for appointments but personal contact with my colleagues is also important to me. My work is a combination of working independently and working together. Contact is very important. After all, my profession is information, and you get information from people too. ‘’
Renewi's mission statement
‘’It is important that everyone understands the importance of a circular economy. How do you do that? By communicating! I always knew that separating waste and recycling correctly is important for the climate and that primary raw materials are scarce, but working at Renewi has made me even more aware of this. For example, I started separating my waste even better. Renewi's mission is also my mission, because who doesn't want to protect the world? And Renewi protects the world by giving new life to used materials. ‘’
Future
‘’I want to keep learning and growing. That is important to me. Fortunately, Renewi offers a lot of opportunities in this. Besides personal growth, I am proud to be part of Renewi's growth. Not just the growth in people and numbers, but the ambitious growth and ambition. Namely, Renewi wants to achieve a recycling percentage of all collected waste of 75% by 2025. In the future, Renewi will no longer be seen by anyone as a waste collector but as a supplier of raw materials. The goal is to live in a world where there is no more. The start has been made, but we are far from there! ‘’