Senior Leadership Team
Zero Waste Scotland is proud to have a dynamic and experienced senior leadership team that is committed to driving the organisation forward.
Led by our CEO, our leadership team consists of individuals with diverse backgrounds and skill sets, bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table.
Each member of the team has a deep understanding of our work, along with the experience and expertise to successfully drive the organisation forward as we lead Scotland to use products and resources responsibly.
Our senior leadership team are committed to creating a pioneering, focused and authentic culture of collaboration, and are dedicated to delivering the highest levels of value to our customers, stakeholders and partners.
Iain Gulland
Iain Gulland is Zero Waste Scotland’s founding Chief Executive and was the Programme Director of the predecessor programme, WRAP Scotland.
Previously Iain worked with initiating recycling systems in the public, private and third sectors and led the Community Recycling Network, Scotland until 2008.
Iain has recently been appointed President of the Association of Cities and Regions for Resource Management (ACR+) and is a member of several Scottish Government Programme Boards including those covering low carbon and manufacturing.
Iain was named the ‘most in?uential person in the UK waste and resource efficiency sector’ by Resource Magazine (2014) and was granted fellowship of the Chartered Institution of Waste Management in 2016.
Louise Smith
Louise currently holds the role of Operations & People Director in Zero Waste Scotland and has been with the organisation for four years, having originally joined to lead the organisation through a significant transformation programme. Louise is an experienced senior executive, business leader and People professional with a diverse career spanning 20 years in both private and public organisations. Prior to moving into the public sector around 5 years ago, Louise spent the first 15 years of her career in the private sector working in large global organisations with including Coca-Cola Enterprises, Ikea, Next, Amazon and William Grant and Sons.
Outside of Zero Waste Scotland, Louise has been further developing her environmental knowledge and has recently completed the Circular Economy and Sustainability Strategies course at Cambridge Judge Business School.
In her Non-Executive career, Louise is a Member of the Board of Trustees for Turning Point Scotland, a large charity that specialises in supporting people facing the most difficult, complicated and challenging situations, Louise is also an Audit & Risk Committee member for the Charity. Additionally, Louise is a Board Member for the ScottishPower Foundation, which provides funding to registered charities to support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, including the advancement of environmental protection and citizen & community development.
John McCroskie
John McCroskie joined Zero Waste Scotland in 2022 and became Director of Evidence and Insight in March 2023.
John has 30 years of experience in public service, central government and the private sector. With a professional background in public affairs, engagement and public policy, he spent over
12 years in policing with leadership roles in major organisational change and governance and served as a Director and interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Police Authority.
He is also a non-executive Trustee of the health charity Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland and a member of the Audit and Accountability committee for the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner.
Ciaran McGuigan
Ciaran McGuigan is Zero Waste Scotland’s Director of Finance and Corporate Services.
Previously Ciaran worked for over 20 years in Financial Services, with extensive experience in finance and risk management and leading finance and business change and transformation.
Ciaran is also an experienced charity non-executive Trustee and Treasurer.