An Environmental Technician combats the impact of pollution and keeping our surroundings clean
Making sure we take care of the environment is something we all think about today. But did you know, environmental laws were first introduced in the UK over 150 years ago, through the Public Health Act 1848? This Act put controls on our sewers, water supply, and street cleaning, and environmental law has expanded ever since to address air quality, waste, and environmental protection.
Today, many different devices and equipment are used to help prevent, control and address environmental problems. These all need to be operated and have data collected from them, to ensure the right environmental standards are achieved. You could be the technician who helps to analyse data and drive higher standards of environmental performance.
Early on in your career you may specialise in one area of environmental management, focussing for example on air, waste, or water. You could work for a consultancy that provides environmental services or for a local government organisation.
With experience, you could progress to becoming a team leader, overseeing the operation of equipment and data collection. Or you could progress to being an environmental inspector, making sure organisations meet the right environmental standards.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
More options available after that:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
Scientific understanding of the impacts of pollution, buildings, and human activity, continues to grow, making this an exciting field of work to be part of. You could be involved in air quality control monitoring, assessing smoke, dust, and odour pollution, evaluating land contamination, as well as undertaking emergency pollution incident investigations.
This role can also be known by some other job titles including:
Environmental engineering technician
Environmental engineering technologist
Environmental engineering assistant
Air quality instrument specialists
