Productivity Commissioner, Joanne Chong, explains how Australia’s complex and inconsistent regulatory environment has stalled the development of a circular economy.
Australians are finding innovative ways to use materials more sustainably and efficiently but are being held back by complex regulations.
The interim report of the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into the circular economy, Australia’s circular economy: Unlocking the opportunities, found that despite an increased focus from business, government and the community, progress towards a more circular economy has been slow.
A circular economy aims to use materials and products more sustainably and efficiently through activities such as designing products to use less materials, extending product lifespans via reuse and repair, and recycling and recovering materials to reduce waste.
We heard from businesses, communities, and researchers who are exploring how to use materials more efficiently, convert different types of waste into valuable products and to regenerate nature.
However, some face barriers such as prescriptive, outdated or inconsistent regulations, limited access to finance or insurance, and challenges accessing information and knowledge.
The report welcomes the government’s focus on the circular economy and urges sustained national leadership.
Innovative sustainable practices, like prefabrication in construction, using organic waste to create energy, and repurposing old mine sites, are sometimes being stymied by out-of-date or overly complex regulation.
Governments need to ensure that rules and guidelines support a safe shift to a more circular approach.
Currently, states and territories have different rules around disposing e-waste, using recycled materials in construction and kerbside recycling, to name a few.
Getting governments on the same page will make sustainable choices cheaper and easier for everyone.
The report also recommends that governments provide consumers with more information about the durability and repairability of products. This could help consumers make more sustainable choices, in the same way dietary information is provided.
The growing challenge of e-waste highlights the role of circular economy practices.
Australians generate e-waste at almost three times the global average, but this e-waste challenge also presents an opportunity, particularly as more and more rooftop solar panels and electric car batteries reach end-of-life.
Materials found in solar panels and electric car batteries can be valuable when recovered correctly. Government can coordinate cross-industry solutions to the e-waste issue that could benefit the economy and the environment.
The circular economy relies on connections – whether between researchers and industry or between businesses.
These connections can span across Australia or be concentrated in circular economy precincts or regions that can create benefits for local communities.
In cities and regions, we heard about businesses working together to develop new circular economy ideas, turn waste into wealth, and save on costs such as transport.
The Productivity Commission is considering ways for governments to enable these connections between organisations both close to and far from each other.
The Commission is now seeking further submissions in response to information requests ahead of the release of a final report later this year.
The interim report, which was released last month, is available from the PC’s website: pc.gov.au/circular-economy
About the author
Joanne Chong commenced a five-year term as a full time Commissioner with the Productivity Commission in April 2022.
She was recently the research director of the Sustainable Pathways Program, Land and Water at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and prior to that a Research Director at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Institute for Sustainable Futures.
Chong is also a steering committee member of the Australian Water Partnership – a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) funded initiative to improve sustainable and climate-resilient water management in the Indo-Pacific region.