We’re talking about the Circular Economy. But are we actually regulating for one?

Circular Economy has been a key point of discussion in the waste and resources sector for a long time now.

We want to keep materials in use for longer. We are trying to describe exactly how we move from a linear “take, make, waste” model to something genuinely circular. The 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) are now the 9 R’s and there are tools available to help find out how to make things more circula - Jan Konietzko’s Circularity Deck.

There is a key missing piece though.

Our legislation and regulatory systems are still heavily built around the concept of waste - something to be managed, transported, treated and ultimately disposed of. Once something becomes a waste, it carries a regulatory burden that is difficult to remove. Without a clear mechanism for determining when a material ceases to be waste and becomes a usable resource, circularity remains much easier to talk about than to deliver.

We're trying to build a circular economy while operating within a system still fundamentally organised around waste.

If we genuinely want a Circular Economy, we need legislation and regulation that makes it easier - not harder - to recover materials, demonstrate their quality and establish when their risk is lowered and they cease to be waste. As it currently stands, the Environment Protection Act defines waste so broadly that (as I recently heard) second hand cars might be defined as waste, and once something is caught by the Act, it is hard to escape from it again.

The Victorian Legislative Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee delivered 59 findings and 33 recommendations on waste-to-energy. The recent Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into waste-to-energy delivered 59 findings and 33 recommendations on waste-to-energy. Recommendation 4. calls for the development of an “end-of-waste framework”, a language that hasn’t been seen in Victoria yet. It's time the regulation caught up with the rhetoric.

Waste Expo is one of the industry's key events in Victoria, and this year's show is explicitly covering circular economy, waste-to-energy, technology and policy. The name says a lot though - it isn't the Circular Economy and Waste Expo (yet…. that’s my hobby horse for this year).

And while we're talking about industry events, a practical reminder:

Waste Expo Australia  and All-Energy Australia are both on at MCEC on 28–29 October.

• Waste Expo itself is free for trade visitors.

• All-Energy is only free if you register by 13th October. After that, general admission is $66 (inc GST).

I’m including All Energy here because of the crossover with waste to energy. Bioenergy facilities are often now exhibiting in All Energy rather than Waste Expo, so it is worth getting in on both.

Having an entry fee this year is a change, so don't leave it until October.

Register early, get both in the diary, and tee up a time to chat about how we actually make the Circular Economy work.

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