Building a more circular Australia

As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic we face the challenge of finding our ‘next normal’. This is both a significant challenge and a great opportunity.

"Building a more circular economy" explores the opportunity for Australia to adopt the concept of a circular economy, establishing a robust and holistic framework for sustainable growth. Our modelling indicates Australia could generate $1,860 billion in direct economic benefits over twenty years and save 165 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2040.

Australia’s rapid economic development and population growth has placed pressure on our cities, infrastructure, services and resources - predominantly based on our linear economic model of 'source, make, use, waste’.

Whilst Australia has started to explore sustainable solutions, such as alternative sources of energy, curbing excessive consumption, implementing greater efficiency in the built environment, and expanding on existing recycling efforts, this isn’t enough.  

Reversing the current pattern of development requires a truly holistic approach.  Our report explores the opportunity for Australia to adopt the concept of a circular economy, establishing a robust and holistic framework for sustainable growth. This involves creating closed-loop material cycles across the production and consumption value chain, and treating waste as a leakage of value to be avoided rather than dismissed.