Day one of Circularity 2024 was packed full of important discussions around the potential for circular economy principles to transform our economy and society for the better by enabling resource efficient value chains. Whether it was resource efficiency, designing for circularity, financing the circular transition or consumer and business behaviour change, three key themes emerged across the day.
Firstly, the circular economy internationally and especially in Australia is only just emerging and a major transformation is required to address the significant environmental and social challenges we are up against. Secondly, the circular economy transition will require systems thinking to produce appropriate solutions while reducing the likelihood of unintended consequences. And lastly, we can only drive a successful transition to an equitable and sustainable circular economy through effective collaboration within and across borders.
On day two, the conversation moved from one focused on the potential of the circular economy to create social and environmental good, to one focused on how we begin implementing circularity through various sectors of the economy. This began with a keynote from the Chair of Australia’s Climate Change Authority followed by a pitch fest highlighting some local circular economy trailblazers, before moving into action-focused workshops and case studies of current best practice in Australia and globally.
Read on for a summary of an action-packed final day of Circularity 2024.
Making a zero-waste mindset the new normal
The Hon. Matt Kean, former NSW treasurer and Minister for Energy and current Chair of the Climate Change Authority, opened day two by delivering a keynote focusing on the critical importance of decarbonising Australia and the role that transitioning to a circular economy will play in achieving this goal.
Kean began by highlighting the significant environmental challenges we face both within Australia and globally in the context of climate change. As evidenced by the CSIRO’s latest State of the Climate Report, climate change impacts are already being felt around the country and there is an urgent need to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst outcomes moving forwards. Kean also highlighted the Climate Change Authority’s recent Sector Pathways Review, which outlines emissions trajectories in each sector of the economy while outlining opportunities to achieve emissions reductions, technologies that can support this goal and the importance of effective public and private financing.
Following this, Kean listed what he believes should be key goals to be targeted by government and industry moving forwards, including waste reduction, resource efficiency and materials recovery, emission reduction and renewable energy. He noted the potential benefits of implementing circular economy principles within the built environment and resource recovery sectors in particular, where circularity could support rapid decarbonisation.
Kean concluded by articulating that transitioning to a circular economy is absolutely critical for reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions and achieving our climate goals. Cutting emissions and shifting to renewable energy as rapidly as possible is clearly non-negotiable, but so should be implementing circular practices across multiple sectors (waste, the built environment and manufacturing in particular). Kean argued that by building a circular economy in Australia, we have an opportunity to protect our environment better than any previous generation and do so in a way that sets the Australian economy up for ongoing economic prosperity.
Australian innovation in action
The Innovation Pitch Fest was back by popular demand following a successful inaugural run at Circularity 2023. The showcase is designed to feature Australia’s trailblazers of innovation who are driving the transition to a thriving circular economy. Judges assess each circular initiative, providing feedback on a number of criteria, including consumer need, innovation, point of difference and go-to market strategy.
This year’s line-up featured Andrea Polson (Licella), Hannah Arkell (Packamama), James Petesic (PV Industries), Jean-Francois (Koor), and Tim Lee (Utilitarian), with the session kicking off with a summary of circular economy activity at Coles Group from General manager of Sustainability Brooke Donnelly.
Packamama – Hannah Arkell
Focused on eco-friendly wine bottles, Packamama uses innovative flat and lightweight designs crafted from 100% recycled PET. These bottles are part of container deposit schemes and offer a lifecycle-conscious alternative to traditional glass, halving greenhouse gas emissions. Packamama has seen strong adoption in Australia and internationally, despite challenges with the wine industry’s slow embrace of sustainable technologies.
Licella – Andrea Polson
Licella transforms waste into valuable resources like biofuels and biomaterials through its Cat-HTR hydrothermal liquefaction technology. This process unlocks carbon from waste using hot compressed water, producing materials with 80% lower carbon intensity compared to fossil fuels. Licella aims to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors, including aviation, and is partnering with major global organisations.
U by Utilitarian – Tim Lee
This initiative uses blockchain technology to bridge the gap between businesses and customers, promoting circularity through Digital Product Passports. These tools enable better management of repair and reuse, tracking product lifecycles and fostering customer engagement. The platform provides businesses with opportunities to reduce emissions and transform customer relationships, leveraging Australia’s significant digital advertising expenditure to drive impact.
PV Industries – James Petestic
PV Industries prevents solar panels from entering landfill by developing machinery and processes for recycling panels. Their approach includes residential, commercial, and utility-scale collection and recycling systems that recover materials like aluminium, glass, silver, and copper. These efforts align with Australia’s leadership in solar adoption and ensure that valuable materials are reused in new applications, such as asphalt, concrete, and kitchen benchtops.
Koor Refillable Container – Jean-Francois Roiron
Koor is a refillable and reusable pump-action container designed for convenience and sustainability. Suitable for a wide range of products, the containers can be refilled at home or in-store via manual or automatic stations. Recognised with two packaging awards, Koor aims to reduce single-use plastics and improve accessibility, particularly for users in the disability sector.
The winner, James Petesic of PV Industries, was announced during Circularity 2024’s closing remarks, with the solar recycling initiative being praised for its tangible impact in reducing waste to landfill and recovering valuable resources for recycling. The project was also commended on its potential for the future, with demand for solar panels continuing to increase in Australia.
Circular entrepreneurship and design
The first of two practical interactive workshops offered on day two provided a taste of the CIRCO Circular Business Design training that has been offered by the Australian Circular Economy Hub in recent weeks. The workshop, hosted by Planet Ark’s Sally-Anne Käsner and Nicole Garofano provided participants with an overview of the CIRCO methodology and the opportunity to explore circular economy practices and begin designing innovative, sustainable business models.
The CIRCO training methodology employs a practical three-step methodology: mapping value chains to uncover points of value destruction, developing circular business models and design strategies, and assessing feasibility while preparing to pitch solutions to stakeholders. Participants work collaboratively on real-world cases, gaining actionable insights into extending product lifecycles, reducing waste, and maximizing resource efficiency. CIRCO offers flexible program delivery and supporting resources, with participants leaving with practical tools and strategies to implement circular business models, ensuring both immediate impact and long-term sustainable growth.
Key circular business models discussed during the workshop included product-as-a-service, reuse and refurbishment, and modular design, all of which are aimed at prolonging product life and optimising resource use. Six core design strategies were also highlighted, such as durability, ease of maintenance, and modularity, which provide a framework for designing sustainable, long-lasting products. Exercises in value chain analysis also helped participants pinpoint where economic, social, and ecological value could be retained through circular innovations.
The training emphasises collaboration and so the workshop also encouraged participants to form partnerships and leverage global best practices from industries such as textiles, electronics, and construction. Regulatory alignment and market advantages of circularity were also underscored, illustrating how businesses can stay competitive in evolving markets.
Circular procurement and how to activate it
In the second workshop hosted by Hayley Jarick (MAAT/ResponsibleSteel) and Mayuri Wijayasundara, participants were offered the chance to learn exactly what circular procurement is and how it works both conceptually and in execution, while discovering how to activate it in their own organisation. The session explored the concept of circular procurement, highlighting its transformative potential for aligning economic, environmental, and social priorities within procurement processes.
Circular procurement goes beyond traditional green or sustainable procurement, aiming to optimise value and utility while fostering regenerative systems. To succeed, organisations must adopt lifecycle thinking and align procurement policies with specific, measurable, and realistic targets.
A key strategy discussed was the use of Product-Service Systems (PSS), which shift focus from ownership of products to the provision of their performance or utility. Examples such as leasing or outsourcing services underscore how this model encourages resource optimisation and dematerialisation.
The workshop also examined procurement tools like Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and eco-labelling, which enable decision-makers to compare procurement options systematically. These tools ensure a balance between environmental, economic, and social considerations while recognising the complexity of integrating these priorities.
Participants discussed the power of public procurement to drive innovation. Public sector organisations, through early adoption, can act as a catalyst for emerging products and services not yet commercially available at scale. By focusing on desired outcomes rather than specific products, organisations can stimulate creativity and innovation, paving the way for solutions that prioritise utility and performance.
“Define the innovation for the outcome – if you specify the product, you lose creativity. Ask for the outcome, not the product.” – Mayuri Wijayasundara
The role of product stewardship in the circular economy
This was the key message of this session, moderated by Planet Ark’s Head of Product Stewardship Beau Boundy, which highlighted the increasing role of product stewardship in advancing the circular economy. Panelists emphasised that addressing the environmental impacts of products requires action across their lifecycle, from design to disposal.
Australia’s policy landscape is evolving, with the National Waste Policy, the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act (2020), and its ongoing review setting the regulatory framework. Product stewardship can be implemented voluntarily or through legal mandates, such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The panel highlighted the increasing role of government policies in driving accountability among producers and the shift from voluntary measures to stronger regulation.
Industry-specific challenges illustrated the need for tailored approaches. In the packaging sector, Chris Foley (APCO) shared initiatives like sustainable packaging guidelines and the use of eco-modulated fees to incentivise better practices while supporting government reforms. Kylie Roberts-Frost (Australian Bedding Stewardship Council) discussed the complexities of mattress recycling, noting cultural barriers around reuse and the need for national standards. Linda Mitchell (Tyre Stewardship Australia) highlighted efforts to address Australia’s 545,000 tonnes of end-of-life tyres annually by promoting reprocessing innovations and sustainable design.
Cross-cutting issues, such as data gaps and the need for systemic collaboration, emerged as key themes. The panel stressed the importance of collecting better data to understand material flows and inform solutions across sectors. They also emphasized that no single product stewardship scheme can address all challenges—coordinated efforts are essential.
Lastly, a shift toward upstream solutions, like sustainable product design, was identified as a critical step in minimising waste and achieving circularity. The panel underscored the urgency of transitioning from voluntary measures to stronger regulations while fostering innovation and addressing logistical and cultural challenges in achieving circularity.
“The era of producer irresponsibility is nigh over” – World Circular Economy Forum 2019
Measuring the circular economy and closing the circularity gap
This session, moderated by Heinz Schandl (CSIRO), explored the challenges and opportunities of measuring circularity, featuring insights from Kat Heinrich (Rawtec), Kate Noble (Sustainability Victoria), and Ben Van Delden (Deloitte).
Heinz Schandl highlighted the variability in circularity rates across nations, with the Netherlands at 30 per cent, Japan at 20 per cent, and Australia lagging at around 13 per cent when material footprint is considered. Strategies such as phasing out fossil fuels, eliminating landfill, and reusing mining waste could double circularity rates globally, but reducing material footprints and scaling material reuse remain critical for systemic change.
Kat Heinrich emphasised the importance of adopting value-based metrics to guide Australia’s transition to a circular economy. Metrics focused solely on volumes, such as landfill diversion, fail to capture the impact of higher-order circular economy strategies. Heinrich pointed to examples like Denmark’s regulations on embedded carbon in construction and Tesco’s alignment of food waste targets with executive incentives. She stressed that metrics should be embedded in regulatory and incentive frameworks to drive tangible action and improve the triple bottom line of reuse, which offers greater job creation and greenhouse gas reductions compared to recycling.
Kate Noble discussed the importance of tailoring metrics to different stakeholders in the circular economy, such as policymakers, industry, and researchers. She shared insights from Sustainability Victoria’s State of Sustainability Report, which revealed growing community interest in repairability and longevity of products, though familiarity with the term "circular economy" remains low (34 per cent). Noble also noted opportunities in reusing materials like concrete, steel, and batteries, but emphasised the need to address job creation, skills development, and workforce productivity to unlock this potential. Circular economy jobs, she explained, are typically higher-skilled and better paid, offering economic and social benefits.
Ben Van Delden outlined challenges faced by businesses in demonstrating the value of circularity. He underscored the need for collaboration across value chains to reduce resource use and leverage holistic opportunities. Businesses need tools to measure the impact of collaborative actions and reward impactful changes. However, issues like data sharing, protocols for data protection, and potential regulatory barriers to collaboration, such as anti-competitive practices, pose significant challenges. Van Delden highlighted Deloitte’s report, The Lucky Country: Transforming Australia into a Climate Smart Super Power, which explores circularity opportunities in the agrifood sector.
Overall, the panellists called for nuanced and actionable metrics, greater collaboration, and stronger frameworks to accelerate Australia’s circular economy transition. The panellists also highlighted the need for circular economy metrics to take into consideration issues such as wellbeing and learnings from First Nations people.
Building a circular aluminium industry through global and local collaboration
The session Global Collaboration for a Circular Aluminium Industry highlighted the complexities and opportunities of advancing circularity in aluminium production and recycling. Moderated by Ashleigh Morris from COREO Pty Ltd, the discussion revealed that while aluminium is highly recyclable, systemic and market challenges hinder its circularity, especially in smaller markets like Australia. The panellists included Luke Hawkins (Capral Aluminium), Marghanita Johnson (Australian Aluminium Council) and Pete Forakis (Rio Tinto Aluminium).
Australia, as the second-largest aluminium producer and largest exporter globally, plays a critical role in the industry. However, only 5 per cent of the energy required to produce virgin aluminium is needed for recycling, underscoring the material’s potential as a sustainable option. Despite this, local recycling efforts are limited by infrastructure gaps, such as the absence of rolling mills, which has led to the export of 460 tonnes of scrap aluminium annually to countries like South Korea. This disconnect raises questions about the viability of recycling domestically in small markets.
Recycling is also complicated by the diverse alloy compositions of aluminium in different products, such as beverage cans and solar panels. Panellists noted the need for global collaboration and innovation, including efforts to address emissions from aluminium production, such as replacing carbon electrodes with ceramic ones to reduce polyfluorocarbon emissions. Other advancements, like extracting critical minerals from bauxite residues and repurposing production byproducts for fertilisers, show promise in enhancing the circular potential of the industry.
Despite the progress, virgin aluminium will remain essential until 2050, particularly for its lightweight applications in transportation. However, a lack of cost-recovery premiums for “green aluminium” hampers demand for sustainable alternatives. Downstream design principles and certified stewardship of the supply chain offer pathways to overcome these barriers, demonstrating the importance of collective effort in building a truly circular aluminium industry.
“The CE is the oldest concept on planet earth. All nature operates on the principles of circularity. We humans should abide by the same principles.” – Ashleigh Morriss
Adopting circularity to build thriving urban places
Continuing with traditional, linear construction practices risks severe environmental degradation, with buildings currently responsible for up to 40 per cent of global CO2 emissions. In contrast, implementing circularity in urban planning can address resource efficiency while meeting the growing demand for mixed-use developments and housing. Moderated by Tuba Kocaturk (Deakin University), this session on the possibilities of circularity in the built environment featured insights from Joe Karten (Built), Lucy Sharman (Bradfield Development Authority), and Cathy Inglis (Think Brick Australia).
The panellists kicked things off by noting the immense potential of housing as a climate solution when approached holistically. It operates as both a production system, focusing on renewable materials and modular homes, and a provision system integrated with urban infrastructure. Initiatives such as retrofitting, passive house designs, and design-for-disassembly could drastically cut emissions, especially with the need for significant new housing developments across Australia (2.2 million new homes are projected in Victoria alone by 2051). Planning that aligns production and provision systems will be vital to maximising potential climate benefits from housing in these developments.
The panellists agreed that for circular economy initiatives to succeed, efforts must be coordinated across building, community, and regional scales. Without this integration, innovations risk being inefficient or unsupported. Examples like European neighbourhood-level energy systems show that interconnected approaches amplify circularity's benefits and scalability.
However, transitioning to circularity in the built environment sector also faces significant challenges, including economic incentives favouring virgin materials, insufficient data on costs and material waste, and regulatory barriers. Solutions such as digital product passports, disassembly plans, and cultural shifts like just-in-time ordering can help overcome these obstacles. Collaboration, robust data systems, and aligned incentives are essential to making circularity both practical and impactful.
How to create circular value chains for clothing
This session explored the progress of circularity in clothing, beginning with a keynote from Ainsley Simpson, CEO of Seamless, and a panel discussion moderated by Julie Boulton. Panellists Alice Payne (RMIT University), Courtney Holm (A.BCH), and Erika Martin (Country Road Group) shared insights from the Circular Design Guidelines project and practical applications of circular design in fashion.
In her keynote, Ainsley Simpson highlighted a shift in Australian clothing consumption, which has decreased by 12 per cent in five years, with more Australians swapping and reselling garments. Ainsley pointed to the growth of Seamless, a voluntary product stewardship program, which focuses on circular design, circular business models, closing the loop, and citizen behaviour change, as a sign of further improvement to come. Supported by over 70 brands and 180 organisations, the scheme incentivises sustainable practices through eco-modulation fees and collaborative working groups, with a goal of achieving government accreditation.
The session then moved on to a discussion around the recent Circular Design Guidelines project and what has been achieved through the project over its initial six months. Courtney Holm described the Circular Design Guidelines as a practical toolkit for businesses, showing how to slow resource use and close material loops. Alice Payne highlighted academia’s role in fostering circular design through research and education. Erika Martin noted that while scaling circularity presents challenges like cost and material availability, the project provided actionable solutions and engaged stakeholders across organisations.
Looking ahead, the guidelines will be open-sourced to empower more businesses, supported by ongoing training and collaboration. Panellists emphasised the importance of leadership buy-in, cross-organisational alignment, and shared resources like circular material databases. Despite challenges, the session showcased the momentum and creativity driving circularity in fashion, with optimism for long-term industry transformation.
Bringing Circularity 2024 to an exciting conclusion
Concluding this year's Circularity conference with his closing remarks was Planet Ark's Deputy CEO, Adam Culley. Adam emphasised that Circularity 2024 had only served to further underscore the urgency of embedding circular principles into every facet of society—from policy and urban planning to business innovation and consumer behaviour. These transformative approaches highlight that the circular economy is not just an environmental imperative but a pathway to sustainable growth, resilience, and long-term prosperity.
The final day of Circularity also highlighted that while there is much work to be done and the need for it is urgent, there are tangible pathways to implementing circularity both within Australia and internationally.