Earlier this year February, the NSW Government announced they will invest $1.5 million to establish a Circular Economy Innovation Network.

“A circular economy looks to minimise waste while ensuring that the valuable resources contained in waste and other discarded products are kept in use for as long as possible,” said NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte in announcement by NSW Government on February 25 2019.

“Maximising the use and value of these resources will bring major economic and environmental benefits to NSW.

“The Network is aimed at better linking industry with government, local councils and researchers to provide an environment in NSW that is conducive to the adoption of new ways of tackling the challenges of the Circular Economy. It will create new revenue opportunities while maintaining a clear focus on sustainability and improved wellbeing.”

Following a two-stage expression of interest and request for a proposal and interview process, the University of NSW (UNSW) was selected to host the network.

A Director and Co-Director have been appointed in the form of Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla (The SMaRT Centre UNSW) and Executive Director, Ashley Brinson (The Warren Centre). Dr Anders Hallgren has also been named as an interim COO.

The network follows stakeholder consultations undertaken by OCSE in late 2018 involving State and Local Government, industry, researchers, peak organisations and NGOs. These consultations identified the value of a network in helping to address key challenges and opportunities in transitioning away from linear/disposable economy approaches:

• High level of interest and activity but often poor connectivity
• Good ideas but not necessarily a market (material flows and supply chain/logistics gaps) 
• Need to both manage immediate problems (waste) and develop preventative systems and capabilities (lifecycle design and product stewardship; skills etc) 

The Network is consistent with the NSW Innovation & Productivity Council report (Innovation in the NSW environmental goods and services sector) and the NSW Government policy on the circular economy, (Too Good To Waste).

What does this mean for Engineers Australia members?

As we host WEC2019 in November, our focus has centred on the UN’s Sustainable Development goals. As our own Sustainable Engineering committee re-energise, the arrival of this OCSE initiative couldn’t have been more timely.

Things are going to move quickly and the team at Circular Economy Network would be keen to meet with key members of our Colleges, Societies and Committee to look at what this initiative means, what innovations have been adopted already by companies and areas of practice, and our role in planning and implementing the transition to a circular economy.

For more information, please contact us at [email protected]