Name: Andzelika Rutkauskaite 

Job and company: Laboratory Manager, FJ Church & Sons

Time in recycling: Approaching 2 years

What does my job involve:

I spend most of my days making sure that we continue to produce high quality results from the in-house tests we do. My department focuses on spent catalytic converters, assessing their individual value based on Pt, Pd and Rh content, and making sure we buy at the right prices. It’s a lot of data analytics, not what I expected from this job!

Hardest part of the job:

The PGM (Platinum Group Metals) market is a volatile one, and anyone working with cats (catalytic converters) will say it’s a tough job that you’ll never get it 100% right. The versatility of cats paired with their value makes for a really frustrating job. Coming from a scientific background, not having consistency and not knowing something’s absolute value is very very hard to deal with.

What three things help you to do your job better:

1. Excel. I have never had to delve as deeply as I do now in excel! Having this skill has made work so much more bearable and pleasant.
2. Networking. To learn the theory behind something is different than to going out there and doing it / seeing it yourself. Not one person or company will have the answers to everything so I have found it so helpful to go and see how others do their job, how they solve their issues. Sharing ideas and information is super important in this field.
3. My colleagues. I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by people who have a LOT of knowledge in different fields relating to cats, from the lab procedures to the sales side. Whenever I find it difficult to come to an answer, I feel like I can depend on the knowledge and experience my colleagues possess to find it together.

What are you most proud of in your career:

I am proud that I have been entrusted with so much, so early in my career. There are a lot of new things I’ve had to learn and will continue to learn, so the fact that I have been trusted with this role in the first place is my biggest pride. Because of this, I have been tasked with travelling England and Europe, learning more and networking. I’m not sure how many people in their 20’s get this opportunity in what they do!

What are the best and worst things about the metals recycling sector:

The best thing I would say is the people working in it. They are far more relaxed and down to earth than what the stereotypical corporate people might be. There is a certain comfort to people like that, which is needed as, as mentioned above, this industry can be very volatile and stressful. This leads me onto the worst part of this sector, the stress that can accompany this role. Recycling is big and will only continue to get bigger. This means the industry deals with big quantities, and in my case, of very valuable materials. There’s a lot of pressure to get it right and stay afloat amongst the competition.

What is the best advice you have ever received:

Sometimes you need to take a step back to see the bigger picture. I am someone who gets too lost in the details from time to time which ends up doing more harm than good to my work productivity. Removing myself from the hole I fell into sometimes helps me gain prospective. At the end of the day, the purpose of a business is to make money. Are the small details I’m stressing over going to benefit the company or can my attention be orientated somewhere more beneficial?

Quick fire round:

Out on the town or a night in front of the TV? Very much both! But perhaps night out slightly more.

Coffee or tea? Coffee

Winter or Summer?  Summer

Marmite – Love/Hate? Hate

Invisibility or Flying? Flying