LITAC Graduate Spotlight: Interview with Kate Baker

EPR Technical Manager, WEFT Limited (Apparel and Textiles Policy)

We’re delighted to speak with Kate Baker and celebrate the fact that she is the first of LITAC’s Clothworkers’ Company-funded PhD scholars to complete her doctorate and move into industry. Kate now works at the intersection of textile durability, sustainability and policy as EPR Technical Manager at WEFT Limited, where she helps shape how global apparel brands respond to one of the fastest-moving areas of environmental regulation: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

Her role sits within the growing field of apparel and textiles policy, where legislation is increasingly requiring brands to take responsibility for the full lifecycle of their products. In practice, that means understanding and contributing to the costs of collecting, sorting, recycling, or disposing of garments once they reach end of life in addition to considerations around ethical sourcing and sustainable manufacture.

Kate describes EPR in straightforward terms:

EPR is a policy which makes the brand or producer of a piece of clothing responsible for the end-of-life management. It requires the producer to pay a fee to cover the cost of collecting, sorting and disposing or recycling the end-of-life textile.

A key mechanism within these systems is eco-modulation, which adjusts the level of EPR fee added onto the price of a garment and ultimately paid by the consumer, depending on how sustainable a product is designed to be. The principle is simple but powerful: better-designed garments can cost less to manage at end of life.

There is a concept called eco-modulation which rewards producers if they have made a sustainable garment, for example if it is durable, meaning they pay a lower fee.

At WEFT, Kate works as a Technical Manager overseeing the data and modelling that underpin these systems. Her work brings together technical analysis and direct industry engagement, helping brands understand how design decisions translate into regulatory and financial outcomes. A significant part of this involves supporting companies to embed durability thinking into their internal systems, rather than treating it as a stand-alone product feature.

I work with brands to understand how they use product design to reduce their obligation, and how they can build more durable products through better internal systems.

Her PhD background working on the LITAC Durability Research Project is central to this work, and the connection between research and practice remains very direct. In fact, she notes that durability sits at the core of both her academic and professional focus.

A typical week reflects this blend of technical depth and cross-sector collaboration. Kate moves between client meetings, data analysis, and report writing, translating complex modelling outputs into clear recommendations for brands. Alongside this, she contributes to durability-focused projects, attends sustainability conferences (often during busy periods in the global policy calendar) and engages in ongoing conversations with policymakers to track how regulation is evolving across different regions.

Client meetings, analysing client data and writing up reports to feedback, durability projects, and attending sustainability conferences. I’m also involved in conversations with policy makers, so tracking the global policy landscape is really important.

Kate’s route into this work began during her time with LITAC, where she first met the co-founders of WEFT in her second year. What started as early conversations about collaboration gradually developed into a professional opportunity, and she joined the company at the end of her doctorate. Rather than feeling like a departure from academia, the move felt like a continuation of her research in a more applied setting.

Her doctoral work focused heavily on durability within policy frameworks, giving her both the technical grounding and the policy awareness needed for the role she now holds.

We discussed collaborating for a while before I joined the business at the end of my PhD, which had a heavy focus on durability within policy, which set me up to segue into the policy sector while still keeping a technical element to my role.

Kate reflects that her decision to pursue a PhD was driven by a desire to contribute meaningfully to change in the industry, rather than observe it from a distance. That motivation has stayed with her throughout her transition into industry.

The reason I started my PhD was to be part of the solution, not the problem. That’s a phrase I really live my life by now.

For her, policy represents one of the most powerful levers for change, particularly in a sector like textiles where environmental impact is deeply embedded across global supply chains.

Policy is such a massive lever for change in our industry and many others. It feels like the perfect place for me.

She also values the environment she now works in at WEFT, where the pace is fast and the breadth of work is wide-ranging. The variety of projects, combined with the start-up setting, means her role is constantly evolving.

I love working in a start-up environment. The role is fast-paced, I get to work across a variety of projects, and no day is the same.

When reflecting on her PhD more broadly, Kate emphasises just how directly relevant it remains to her day-to-day work. The focus on durability measurement and policy integration is not something she left behind after submission, but something she actively applies in practice.

Alongside technical expertise, she highlights the wider value of the PhD experience itself. The relationships formed during her doctorate, including the continued influence of her supervisors, have been a lasting part of her professional development. Just as importantly, the experience shaped how she approaches work under pressure.

The knowledge gained makes you capable of expanding your career. The relationships I formed, including my supervisors, have been incredibly important, and the PhD also taught me what hard work and perseverance looks like.

Some of the most valuable skills she now uses in industry were not necessarily the ones she expected to take forward. In particular, she points to adaptability and the ability to respond quickly when projects shift direction.

How to pivot, well and fast. PhD projects involve troubleshooting and changing direction quickly, and that adaptability has been really helpful in industry.

She also emphasises resilience as a key capability, particularly in environments where feedback loops are fast-moving and outcomes are not always predictable. Although still early in her post-PhD career, Kate already sees her doctorate as foundational to her professional identity. It has helped establish her credibility within the field and significantly accelerated her technical development.

My PhD is going to provide me career stability for a long time to come. It has highlighted me as an expert in my field. It has grown my knowledge of my subject area more than I believe a role in industry would have in the same timescale.

Perhaps most importantly, it has enabled her to contribute directly to shaping the industry she works in.

Knowing I’m helping to push the industry forward in a positive way because I have the knowledge to do so is the most rewarding part.

For current PhD students considering careers beyond academia, Kate encourages openness, reflection, and active use of professional networks. She is also clear that there is no single “right” timeline for moving into industry.

Think about what you want to achieve before applying for anything and lean on your network. This industry is so collaborative, and everyone wants to see you succeed.

Looking ahead, Kate is excited to continue developing her work at WEFT as textile policy evolves, particularly as new regulations reshape industry expectations. She remains closely connected to academia, both through ongoing writing from her PhD and through collaborative projects with institutions including the University of Leeds and Manchester Metropolitan University.

She also continues to contribute to academic projects as an industry expert, particularly in areas connected to EPR and research recruitment, reflecting both her applied experience and her ongoing connection to the research community.

Kate’s journey illustrates the kind of pathway LITAC aims to support: research that does not stop at the point of submission, but continues into industry impact, policy influence, and real-world change.