Our People

Lyndsay Poaps is the Executive Director of the Recycling Council of B.C. An accomplished leader with collaborative experience in multi-stakeholder consultations, she has a strong background in community building and decision making.

Before joining RCBC, she served as Executive Director for Leadnow, a national independent advocacy organization, and as Co-Chair of OPEN, an international network of digital campaign organizations. Lyndsay spent a number of years as a Communications Specialist with Metro Vancouver, with a focus on behaviour change and waste diversion. She currently sits on the National Zero Waste Council Management Board.

Driven and energetic, Lyndsay has built and maintained personal and professional relationships across many communities. She was an elected Commissioner with the Vancouver Parks Board from 2002-2005, was an Urban Fellow with the City of Toronto, has been an Action Canada Fellow, and founded Frontrunner, a campaign school to train and support young women interested in running for election. Lyndsay has a Masters of Public Policy from Simon Fraser University.

Eric Hargrave is an IT and management professional who has been living and working in BC for the past ten years. Unwilling to go into resource extraction after acquiring a Masters degree in geology, he decided to devote his scientific brain to making the world a better place. Information technology came naturally, so his career has consisted of various IT roles for schools, non-profits, and co-operatives; his roles inevitably came to include people management, and Eric dedicated the last nine years to the Cortes Natural Food Co-op as their first General Manager. He joined the Recycling Council of BC as Information Services Manager in February 2022.

For Eric, the circular economy is an example of environmental stewardship in action. We show respect for each other, the planet, and all life by being responsible stewards. He is committed to working against climate change and improving the world. While not at work, he hangs out with his family – mostly making bad jokes and good desserts but also hiking and kayaking on the beautiful Sunshine Coast with his lovely wife and their two fascinating teenagers.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography with Environmental Specialty from Simon Fraser University. Since joining RCBC in 2017, she has held a number of roles including working as an Environmental Advisor on the BC Recycling Hotline. Jennifer loves learning and is continually working to learn new skills, having recently completed Toronto Metropolitan University’s Applied Analytics and Statistics for 21st Century Decision Making professional development program.

Jennifer is passionate about sustainability, with a particular interest in advancing the transition to a circular economy where waste is viewed as a resource rather than a residual. In her spare time, you can find Jennifer reading, experimenting with interior design, and taste-testing her way through Metro Vancouver’s best veggie burgers.

Eileen Xu holds a Bachelor in Natural Resources Conservation and a Master of International Forestry at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada, focusing on strategic planning particularly about complex planning challenges on natural resources management.

Eileen is interested in waste reduction and sustainable development. As an Environmental Advisor, Eileen supports the RCBC Recycling hotline, maintains the currency and accuracy of the database, fact sheets, research reports, and other reference materials, and researches new issues and unusual enquiries while keeping current on developments in the waste reduction field. In her free time, Eileen likes baking and reading.

The severity of the environmental issues facing us demands a serious shift in our collective values and behaviors, and Justin strives to broaden this movement through his work. Justin pursued this interest by completing a graduate degree in the subdiscipline of environmental microbiology at the University of British Columbia after getting an undergraduate degree in biochemistry at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON. Over the years, Justin has also come across a great wealth of knowledge about living in a low-waste fashion by continually trying to improve upon his own everyday routines.

Sukhman is an Environmental Advisor with the Recycling Council of BC, advising communities on best practices for waste management & recycling. Previously, she worked with a provincial government and PRO on a number of waste management initiatives, including planning and implementing strategic evaluation of programs, work plans and waste reduction regulations, and strategic policy advice and recommendations.

She graduated with a Masters of Natural Resources Management from the University of Manitoba. Her other certifications include GHG Protocol Corporate Standard (World Resources Institute), ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System, and Monitoring & Evaluation of Climate Change Mitigation Strategies (World Resources Institute).

In her free time, Sukhman volunteers with international environmental organizations including the United Nations Development Programme.

Beatrice studied Environmental Science at the University of British Columbia and at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Before joining the Recycling Council of BC, she did a variety of jobs including nature guide, concert hall front of house, science presenter and natural interpreter. She supports stronger legislation to limit unnecessary packaging, the inclusion of more sectors in extended producer responsibility framework, public funding for resource recovery R&D, and mindful consumer habits.

Aliyyah Abdullah has worked in finance for the last 15 years. She is both a qualified international accountant and a qualified canadian accountant by profession. While her background is in accounting, Aliyyah believes in supporting the organization and taking on a more business oriented approach. She believes in sustainability whilst also supporting the value chain or all of the activities necessary in creating a product or services.

This value chain journey has led her to have numerous roles within her career. Most recently, Aliyyah joined the Recycling Council of British Columbia as the Finance and Administration Manager in October 2022 and she has found her values aligned in this role.

Outside of this, Aliyyah is an avid volunteer and has worked in her spare time as an advisory council member for the CPA Canada (Trinidad and Tobago) Charter. She also writes and most recently launched an ebook for finance professionals to increase their influence within the workplace. She currently resides in Vancouver.