How do we make Australia’s economy circular – and why can chemists help?

Whether it’s the screen on your expensive device shattering from a mere tap, or a rubbish dump rapidly running out of room in your council, it’s clear to most of us that our one-way, waste-generating economy is bad for us as well as the environment.

“People are getting sick of products that short have short life spans,” says Professor John Thwaites, former deputy premier of Victoria and current chair of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute and Climateworks Centre.

Circular economy practices – designed to eliminate waste and improve the lifespan of our products – could bring a host of wider benefits.

And according to Thwaites, who spoke at the 2024 Australian Conference on Green & Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, chemists might be able to help us get there.

Thwaites chaired the government’s Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group, which released its final report in December.

“Australia doesn’t have a circular economy at present,” says Thwaites.

“We have a very high material footprint per head, and we also have a low resource productivity, or material productivity.”

Material productivity is the amount of economic value obtained from materials used. According to the report, Australia sees US$1.20 from every kilogram of material used, compared to the OECD average of US$2.50. This is the 4th lowest rate in the OECD.

“There’s a big economic opportunity in being more resource efficient,” says Thwaites, adding that circular economy strategies can also help increase jobs, encourage trading partners, and help to meet emissions reduction targets.

Circular economy strategies also reduce waste, lowering the health and environmental problems that come from pollution.

“Green chemistry can play a vital role in reducing the incidence of dangerous chemicals and contaminants – it’s all about designing your products and your processes with the environment and circularity in mind,” says Thwaites.

In fact, according to Thwaites, green chemistry can help make many processes circular, including manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, industrial chemicals, infrastructure, food and agriculture, and mining.

The roles are diverse – from turning food waste into valuable products, to making green hydrogen for green steel processing, to designing more sustainable insulation materials and making buildings more efficient.

“The circular economy relies on green chemistry in many of the key sectors,” says Thwaites.

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“[There] is a huge opportunity for business, and also for reducing emissions and reducing damage to the environment.”

But at the moment, Australian industry has little incentive to be circular.

“We need to make some major policy changes,” says Thwaites.

“We’re recommending a Circular Economy Act, which will, in one place, provide the regulatory powers that are needed to drive the circular economy – in particular, the power to set standards for products for things like repairability, durability, and reusability.”

Thwaites says that such an act, and its legislation, would work best if coordinated across the Commonwealth, like building codes.

“A strong message that we heard from industry is that as far as possible, we want to harmonise circular economy standards across the country – because if you have different rules in different states, it makes it very complex and expensive for business.”

Product stewardship schemes, where industry bodies develop systems to handle their products’ effects on the environment, could be legislated more strictly.

“In many cases, the voluntary schemes haven’t been particularly effective, largely because free riders have been able to avoid being part of the system. So we would say we need more mandatory schemes,” says Thwaites.

The group is also recommending challenge-based funding to help fill gaps in circularity.

“Rather than the Commonwealth supporting a particular business or particular research project, the Commonwealth would set challenges to be met by a consortium of researchers and businesses, and provide funding for that challenge. That could be things like battery lifecycle management, or zero waste construction,” says Thwaites.

This is another point where green chemistry can help to solve problems.

“Green chemistry could play a key role in meeting some of those challenges,” says Thwaites.

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