Finding ecological solutions in a traditionally polluting industry
Valeria Poliakova moved to Finland with her family from Petrozavodsk, Russia in 2001. After finishing Finnish upper-secondary school, she graduated from Arcada in 2008. At Arcada Valeria studied Industrial Management, a programme that in 2005 merged with the Degree Programme in Plastics Technology. To Valeria, universities of applied sciences represent the idea of immediately testing acqui¬red theoretical knowledge. – Once you learn something in theory you can app¬ly it right away, while it is fresh in your memory and you are still curious, she says.
Valeria saw great potential in the education, which leaves the options open for both management and hands-on work, as well as master level studies in the future. What Valeria has especially liked about her education is the fact that it is practical but broad enough to include the “world around the plastics indu¬stry”.The Degree Programme in Industrial Management at Arcada (today Plastics Technology) takes many aspects into consideration. – The programme prepares us to work as project leaders, managers of industrial projects and processes, but we can also provide technical support when needed. And obviously, it is important to consider economi¬cal limitations, time, labour and legal constraints, says Valeria.
Valeria wrote her thesis on the recycling of PET, the type of plastic light-weight plastic bottles are made of. She has studied how the recycling system in Finland works, the properties of recycled PET and what factors affect these properties, as well as what recycled PET is used for. – It is such an interesting field and there is still so much to explore! I would have liked to have included even more practical studies and experiments but the thesis work would have just grown out of proportion, says Valeria with a deep sigh.
As all degree programmes at Arcada, Plastics Technology includes a period of work placement. Valeria did hers combining the research work directly connected to her thesis and an office work at a well known company in the industry. She then continued in Arcada’s plastic lab and now researches properties of recycled PET full time. In September she will go on to obtain a master’s degree by studying Forestry and Environmental Engineering at the University of Helsinki.
