A new circular economy group has been launched by the NSW Government through the Office of Chief Scientist to bring stakeholders together from across governments, industry, universities and not-for-profit groups.
The Circular Economy Innovation Network (CEIN) will look to map and identify opportunities for stakeholders to work together in the goal to reduce waste, enhance sustainability and ultimately boost industry (growth and jobs) by developing a circular economy.
The first stakeholders’ meeting was held at UNSW as CEIN host, was attended by 150 stakeholders wanting to enhance sustainability, and was emceed by Michael Sharpe, Director of the federal government-initiated Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre.
The size and complexity of the waste challenge facing society dominated discussion at the first stakeholders’ meeting of the newly announced CEIN.
CEIN Director, Professor Veena Sahajwalla, who is Founding Director of the UNSW Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre, said that many stakeholders have already been making great progress in reducing waste and using it as a resource, and the first stakeholders meeting was a testament to that.
“What is clear is that we need much greater coordination and connectivity across stakeholders to identify the opportunities and problems in getting a circular economy really going,” she said.
“And that is where the new network comes in. CEIN will bring stakeholders together to not only enhance current efforts to build a circular economy, but to identify the big impact opportunities.”
CEIN Co-Director, Ashley Brinson, who is Executive Director of the Warren Centre at Sydney University, said the passion and enthusiasm displayed during the first stakeholder meeting session demonstrated a strong collective desire to truly establish a circular economy in NSW and Australia.
“We heard from both the Chair and Co-Chair of the NSW Government’s Steering Committee for the CEIN, as well as many stakeholders representing the different sectors and industries that are central to a circular economy, and a key acknowledgement was the need for a coordination of sustainability efforts,” she said.
The CEIN is undergoing its start-up phase and is developing a series of stakeholder workshops to identify themes and opportunities, as well as other activities such as identifying tools and resources needed to promote innovative solutions to reduce and re-use waste and improve product design and production to reduce and re-use waste.
Ms Sahajwalla said that by making the right connections between researchers, businesses and governments, we can play a significant role in developing a true circular economy in Australia.
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- NSW launches draft of its Circular Economy Policy
- Scaling up the circular economy