Event Summary – Circular Economy Workshop: Circular Recovery Systems

Date: 6 August 2025
Location: Melbourne, International Chamber House
Host: Swedish Australian Chamber of Commerce (SACC) Sustainability Committee

The SACC Sustainability Committee hosted an inspiring event focused on Circular Recovery Systems and how to establish viable resource recovery models that foster local circular economies of scale. The transition from a linear to a circular economy is critical to addressing environmental challenges — moving away from a “take, make, dispose” model toward systems where resources are designed for reuse, recovery, and regeneration. Businesses play a key role in this shift by rethinking traditional models and implementing sustainable practices across the value chain.

The event began with an introduction to the Circular Economy Framework, followed by a panel discussion with key stakeholders in the Australian circular economy:

• Florian van den Corput – Senior Advisor, Circular Economy, SV Lab, Sustainability Victoria
• Darren Thorpe – Managing Director, Australian Paper Recovery Pty Ltd
• Flavia Vaz – Corporate Affairs Director, Tetra Pak Oceania, Japan and Korea
• Edward Bond – Principal, Robert Bird Group
• Brendan Lee – Circular Economy Manager, Closed Loop Environmental Solutions

The panel explored how Australia can achieve its 80% recovery target despite current gaps in product and material reuse and reprocessing. After the panel, Linda Nordin, Circular Economy Specialist, led an interactive workshop on the key drivers of the Circular Economy and why CE focus is crucial.

Discussion points from the event:

Circular economy goes beyond just recycling; it focuses on designing out waste and emissions throughout the entire value chain. Lifecycle thinking challenges the traditional “end-of-pipe” approach, considering the entire journey and purpose of a product, rather than just focusing on a single phase or recyclability of packaging. Lifecycle Thinking in Food Packaging: Applied to food and packaging, lifecycle thinking reveals trade-offs, such as a material that is good for recycling but might negatively impact food safety, shelf life, and quality, potentially leading to more food waste. A systems approach is needed to meet recycling targets, including: Packaging design that drives recyclability, supported by an efficient collection and recycling system that is backed up with required infrastructure.

Challenges and Barriers in Australia:

• Geographic & Financial Barriers: Australia’s vast distances and lower levels of investment in waste infrastructure hinder progress compared to Europe.
• Innovation & Regulation Balance: While too much regulation can stifle innovation, mandatory procurement policies for sustainable practices could push companies toward change. There is not enough regulation to push effective change in Australia.
• Ensuring harmony within jurisdictions. Not always easy to create one system that fits all.
• Current system is not providing a solution for all waste materials, some items fall outside of the system, and it is not clear for residents all the time where to recycle what (MRF vs CDS schemes).
• Carbon linkage as a lever: Possibility to link Circular Economy activities with carbon emission reduction (this can create an incentive)
• Lack of Waste infrastructure: Regulations should be supported by adequate infrastructure.
• Cost vs. Profit: The cost of the system often outweighs the benefits, suggesting that councils need to explore more cost-effective alternatives to kerbside collection, rather than just adding more bins to the roads.
• Learning from Abroad: It is recommended that Australia look to international examples for innovative waste collection solutions that could be more efficient and less costly.
• For example, FOGO System & Kerbside Collection: Victoria’s struggle to implement a four-bin system highlights the challenges councils face in waste collection. The cost outweighs the profits; there are also other ways of collecting then just adding more bins to the roads (learn from abroad). Anaerobic digestion is a great example of reprocessing food, and it avoids the most carbon emissions, it is used widely abroad but not here in Australia, food waste in AD will be turned in to both a fertiliser (compost) and biogas
• Behaviour Change in Consumption: Changing consumption behaviours is difficult, as it goes against human instincts. Multi-channel communication and clear messaging are necessary to reach a broader audience.

Required Culture Change & Leadership:

We need to focus more on the following areas:

• Cultural Shifts: Changing the culture of consumption and waste management requires both political will and personal responsibility. Leading by example from large companies can trigger industry-wide shifts.
• Community Buy-in: Engaging local communities, educating the public, and reframing how we view materials as resources are crucial to making circular economy practices mainstream.
• Stronger targets informed by waste auditing & metrics: Emphasizing the need for waste auditing to identify areas of improvement and set clear, measurable goals for sustainability efforts.
• Foster industry partnerships. Enable customers and retailers to contribute to the solution (e.g., TREAD Lightly, where shoes are recycled into flooring) 

Policy & Regulation:

• Define the role of government: Governments need to introduce regulations that create both incentives and penalties for businesses to adopt sustainable practices.
• The need for more regulation, like “Recycle First” and recycled content legislation, to encourage businesses to act sustainably.
• Recycling Labels: The introduction of labels indicating the percentage of recycled content in products can create more transparency and drive demand for sustainable materials.
• Federal Regulations: A suggestion to introduce federal laws for recycling, akin to those in Europe, including tax incentives and penalties for non-recyclable packaging. Copy and paste what works.

Behavioural Change & Incentives:

• Education is crucial in instilling the right behaviours, such as: Eliminating wish-cycling Increasing awareness to drive behaviour change. Highlighting successful campaigns like Sustainability VIC’s “small acts, big impacts”. Broadening the sustainability message through mainstream channels like TV and social media.
• Reduce contamination: Focusing on single-stream waste for better quality feedstock (lessons learnt from abroad).
• Community awareness and engagement, requires more education and coaching (monitoring): Education, infrastructure improvements, and waste auditing are key to shifting behaviours and raising awareness in Australia. For example, more monitoring/coaching is required regarding FOGO (food and garden organics), as high contamination levels are also key barriers in producing a high-quality end product (close the loop).
• Carrots & Sticks: Carrots create a positive feeling around the actions, but even though it may the same with penalties, they are are effective in driving action, similar to the example from a Canadian study where higher costs prompted behaviour change. Penalizing poor behaviour within the system, not just through government but through peer influence.
• Encouraging Responsibility and Accountability: Emphasizing the importance of businesses and individuals taking responsibility for their waste, a mindset that works well in Europe but is not as prevalent in Australia.
• Marketing that matters consider what makes residents and business act, is it mandatory rules, emotional messages, ongoing information making circular economy habits an everyday thing/practise.
• Financial incentives could make recycling more expensive, pushing businesses to adopt circular solutions. Similar for residents, make it cheaper to do the right thing.
• Collaboration: Across industries is vital, including businesses and brands working together (e.g., recycling shoes), is essential to foster innovation and meet circular economy targets:

Practical Solutions & Actions:

Some of the ideas that were mentioned:

• Pilot Programs: Pilots are cost-effective tools for testing and demonstrating the value of circular solutions before scaling.
• Local Solutions: Solutions should be tailored to local contexts, with a shift in terminology from “waste” to “resources.”
• Uber networks: AI for Recycling & Waste Management: Suggestions for using digital platforms and AI to connect suppliers and users for more efficient recycling systems, akin to the Uber model for waste collection. If we cannot provide a system for all items to be recycled, how are we going to find a solution for reusable products. Maybe an efficient uber network is the way.
• Deconstruction & Reuse Platforms: Platforms that track C&D material e.g. waste and materials during deconstruction projects, showing emissions saved and facilitating reuse, can drive further sustainability efforts.
• Shared intellectual property (IP) is necessary. While upstream competition exists, downstream collaboration is crucial for solving challenges. Intermediaries are needed to connect the value chain and drive change, especially by big downstream players.
• B-Corp Certification: Becoming a B-Corp helps meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
• Design products/infrastructure for Disassembly/Modular to allow for deconstruction at end of life: Make sure that all companies understand the importance of designing in circularity in the very beginning, a simple design that allows for easy end of life approach will assist in closing the loop.
• Circular Economy Models: The idea of creating systems where products are recycled or reused by retail stores (e.g., clothes recycling programs like H&M’s second-hand area) is gaining traction.

Behaviour Change in Consumption:

• Difficulties in Changing Behaviour: Changing consumption behaviours is a significant challenge, especially in the built environment, where people are accustomed to traditional practices.
• Need for Multi-Channel Communication: To drive behaviour change in the built environment, effective communication strategies and clear messaging across multiple channels are essential to engage a broader audience and make sustainable practices more mainstream.

Summary:

The roundtable emphasised the importance of integrating both regulation and incentives to drive change in the circular economy. Collaboration across industries and education are vital for creating a culture of responsibility, while digital solutions and pilot programs can help scale successful initiatives. Government leadership, including regulations on purchasing domestic recycled content, coaching and educating businesses and residents on waste, is critical, but community engagement and innovation must also play central roles in shaping a sustainable future. We need to go beyond circular discussions and take action.

Download the summary here: https://www.swedishchamber.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Event-Summary-Circular-Economy-Workshop-6-August-2025.pdf

Event sponsors:

Contact: Swedish Australian Chamber of Commerce, Sustainability Committee sacc@swedishchamber.com.au