Alexandra, Recycling Specialist, Aggregates

Prior to joining Heidelberg Materials, Alexandra Bercoff worked for the City of Stockholm, where she was an Environmental Specialist in the Development Office for just over four years. Since 2023 she has been working as a recycling specialist at Heidelberg Materials Ballast Sweden.

Welcome to Heidelberg Materials. What was your previous job and what is it like to be here?

- I used to work in development projects for the City of Stockholm, dealing with issues related to mass handling, soil pollution and stormwater. Working with urban development was very exciting, but it is also fun to take on new challenges and be here. I have also worked as a business developer at Ragn-Sells and as a soil environment consultant at Sweco, and I believe that all these experiences will be very useful in my new position.

What will your job entail?

- Heidelberg Materials wants to focus more on the recycling of soil and stone materials. My job will be to create products from these materials, i.e. to create in-demand products from the earth and stone masses we receive at our sites.

How did you get involved in this industry?

- I wish I knew. I really wanted to save the world, but you can't do it alone. When I was at university I thought I was going to work in water treatment and my first job was designing pipelines. I quickly realised that wasn't my thing and that I wanted a job where I could be outdoors. Soil Environmental Consultant was close to home as it meant a lot of days out in the field. One thing led to another and suddenly I was in the waste industry. I think it's because it's more fun to say 'yes' than to say 'no' and then not really know where you're going.

What challenges do you see in your role?

- The legislation is complicated and a bit outdated. The Environmental Code is not as climate-focused, which makes the job difficult, but the hardest thing is probably how to keep up with all the fun projects we have to start.

How do you see the future?

- Recycling is definitely the future. We need to find new ways to recycle rock and excavated material from development and infrastructure projects into new products and conserve virgin rock, which is a finite resource. You may not think about it, but in Sweden we are a bit spoilt because we have so much rock. Other countries - such as Denmark and the Netherlands - have made more progress in recycling excavated soil and building materials, and there is much to learn from them.