New expert group established to advise government on transitioning to a circular economy

A new expert group will help advise the government on transitioning the nation to a circular economy by 2030. It will consider products across all sectors that are designed and manufactured.

Professor John Thwaites will chair the expert members, who include chief scientist Dr Cathy Foley and CSIRO boss Dr Larry Marshall.

Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek used an address to the Circularity Conference in Sydney on Friday to name the group.

“A circular economy will create jobs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and the amount of waste we put into landfill,” the Minister said in a statement.

“This transition is really exciting for the environment and the economy.”

The decision to stand up the expert group followed a meeting of all Australian environment ministers in October.

At the meeting, the ministers agreed to work with the private sector to foster markets and achieve a circular economy within the next eight years. This would be done by designing out waste and pollution and keeping materials in use.

Plibersek said that while Australians wanted to use fewer disposable items, the right settings were not in place to help them cut back waste.

With more than 70% of a single item’s environmental impact “locked in” at the design stage, she argued, it was clear that a more concerted effort should be made at the start of a product’s life cycle to minimise its waste.

“Better waste management and more effective recycling are important — but they aren’t enough on their own. As a country, we must do more to design-out waste in the first place, and make better use of recovered resources,” Plibersek said.

In order for Australia to meet its net-zero goals a “systems-wide” change was needed, science and industry minister Ed Husic added.

He pointed to a $15 billion national reconstruction fund to reinvigorate the local industrial base and ensure a net zero economy also created opportunities.

“A circular economy will ensure that we are on track to make these changes and support the energy transformation,” Husic said.

“It’s a great opportunity to create manufacturing systems that are optimised to be less resource intensive, produce less waste, and have less impact on the environment.”

The environment minister said she was looking forward to working with her state and territory peers, and the expert group, to drive design efforts to limit waste products.

“A circular economy will create jobs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and the amount of waste we put into landfill,” Plibersek said.

“This transition is really exciting for the environment and the economy.”

This article was first published by The Mandarin.