“I wanted to study a subject that has meaning”

Polina Holub initially planned to deepen her knowledge of solid waste management to apply it in Ukraine after being shocked by the massive landfill sites near a Ukrainian city. However, the outbreak of war led her to focus on methods for reusing concrete rubble from buildings destroyed by the Russian military. Her background in civil engineering, which she earned in Kyiv, proved essential in this work.

After completing her bachelor’s degree, Holub applied to master’s program in Environmental Sciences and Engineering at EPFL. “I wanted to study a subject that had meaning for me,” she says. That meant turning her focus from civil to environmental engineering.

Getting her bearings at EPFL

Holub was accepted to EPFL in 2022. She had only a rudimentary knowledge of French at the time, having studied it for just two years in high school. But that didn’t stop her from taking the leap and moving to Switzerland.

Holub began her master’s program with an in-company internship – mandatory for her degree in environmental engineering. She worked for a Swiss construction company and had no choice but to improve her French. “DeepL was my best friend back then!” she jokes.

When the internship ended and her classes started, Holub experienced “a bit of a struggle,” she says. “Switching from civil engineering to courses on climate, air, water, and soil pollution was more challenging than I expected, especially without a solid background in these subjects. On top of that, I felt like everyone else was already brilliant in these areas!” But she didn’t give up and her grades improved.

Bringing her idea to life

Holub also took part in EPFL’s 12-week Changemakers program, in which students are given an opportunity to turn their ideas into reality. Her idea of supporting reconstruction efforts in Ukraine led her to a semester project where she developed a method to evaluate the amount of destroyed material stock in residential buildings in Mariupol—one of the cities most severely affected by the war. She took this research further for her master’s project, supervised jointly by Christian Ludwig, an adjunct professor at EPFL and expert in solid waste treatment, and external partner Anna Ackermann, who works for the International Institute for Sustainable Development in Geneva and the Ecoaction Center for Environmental Initiatives in Kyiv.

Reusing rubble

Holub used her method to evaluate Izium – another war-torn city – as well. The method consisted of using satellite data to examine the extent of the destruction and identify building materials that could potentially be recovered. Her research focused on quantifying the amount and composition of construction and demolition waste, with a particular emphasis on concrete reuse. She developed a waste management plan based on insights from case studies, European and Swiss regulations, and expert interviews. The plan proposed the use of on-site recycling equipment and a structured material sorting process to maximize resource recovery.

To refine her approach, Holub interviewed engineers at two Swiss companies, CSD Engineers and Eberhard, to determine the machinery required for mixed material separation and explore how concrete elements can be recovered with minimal contamination. With this information, she estimated the potential for selling recovered materials and their viability for reconstruction efforts.

As part of her master's project, she conducted a multi-criteria analysis to project Ukraine’s reconstruction needs up to 2041, considering socio-economic factors, material availability, and future housing demand. Her findings suggest that recycled concrete could contribute significantly to rebuilding efforts, offering a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional materials. She defended her master’s project in January 2025, earning the highest possible grade: 6 out of 6. “I’m really grateful to Prof. Ludwig for giving me the opportunity to study this topic,” says Holub. “He supported me and was open to my idea right from the start.”

War a part of daily life

Holub has since moved back to Kyiv, where the war is now part of her daily life. She began working for non-governmental organization Ecoaction in March 2025, building on the contacts she made during her master’s project. Her job entails working on a project that helps Ukraine align with the Paris Agreement, specifically by supporting climate change adaptation measures in the Black Sea region.

During her free time, Holub tries to spend time with her family. They still live in her hometown of Sumy, a region near the Russian border that is regularly subjected to daytime and nighttime air raids, including missile attacks.

In Kyiv, air-raid sirens generally go off between 10pm and 2am. “As soon as we hear them, we have to turn on the news to see what attacks may be coming and whether we need to go into the shelters,” says Holub.

How do people in Kyiv view other recent international developments? “It gets more surprising with each passing day,” she replies with a despondent laugh.