Moving towards a circular economy

Sustainability Advantage supports the creation of circular communities in which members can take advantage of opportunities in the emerging circular economy.

Circular economy is about changing the way we design, produce, sell and use products to avoid waste and reduce the impact on our environment.

Since 2007 Sustainability Advantage has assisted a range of circular economy projects and helped to develop the business case for investment in smarter technologies and processes.

Sustainability Advantage proactively brings together business, government and innovators that are enabling change and supports projects that look to recover resources as renewable inputs in production and manufacturing. Through these collaborative projects we help address resource scarcity and supports keeping valuable materials in the productive cycle.

Initiatives to enable a circular economy include:

Product Stewardship Cluster – a network of 23 product stewardship organisations (PSO) working together and in collaboration with Sustainability Advantage members to share knowledge and resources to address problematic wastes like electronics, mattresses, nappies, textiles, carpets, cigarette butts, tyres, paint, crushed glass and soft plastics and turn them to inputs for other production processes. PSOs are organisations jointly funded by product creators to deal with products at the end of their useful life – for example, Mobile Muster, Tyre Stewardship Australia and TechCollect.
CLEAN Cowra – an ambitious plan to turn a regional town’s biomass waste to energy, that involved collaboration with local industry and government.

How Sustainability Advantage members are embracing the circular economy

Many members are leading the way on circular economy projects. To find out more about their achievements, go to the member case studies page.

Delta Electricity and Crucible

A joint biomass co-firing project, where wood fibre was added to the coal stream to save greenhouse gas emissions. Find out how Sustainability Advantage helped get this project to commercial ready stage.

Awards and accolades

The Circulars 2019 Highly Commended Award Sustainability Advantage has twice received international recognition for enabling the circular economy in New South Wales:

runner-up in the Cities and Regions Category in the inaugural Circular Awards in 2015
highly commended the Public Sector category of The Circulars in 2019 for its efforts to accelerate transition to the Circular Economy in New South Wales by establishing a Product Stewardship Cluster and facilitating – for the first time – collaboration between 23 separate Product Stewardship Organisations.

The Circulars are an initiative of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Forum for Young Global Leaders and recognises inspiration, innovation and leadership by private and public organisations and individuals.

The Circulars 2019 Yearbook

Page last updated 6 May 2024

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Circular economy explained

Circular economy is about making best use of resources by keeping products and materials in use for as long as possible – in their existing form or in new forms. It encourages clever reuse of resources, minimises waste and champions the wise use of assets at our disposal.

It is called ‘circular’ because the aim is to keep materials continuously flowing through the value cycle rather than take the traditional approach of ‘make, use, dispose’.

Transitioning to a circular economy will meet growing demands for responsible consumption and production.

In 2019, the NSW Government adopted a Circular Economy policy, the first state in Australia to adopt such a policy. Visit the NSW Environment Protection Authority website to view the NSW Government Policy.

See Ellen Macarthur Foundation for more information.