The Productivity Commission has published the Hub leader UNSW SMaRT Centre's detailed submission for its inquiry into “opportunities in the circular economy”.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers formally requested the Productivity Commission undertake an inquiry into Australia’s opportunities in the circular economy to improve materials productivity and efficiency in ways that benefit the economy and the environment.
Excerpt from SMaRT@UNSW's submission:
Our main point is that any circular economy system needs to place a high value on the use of waste streams as a resource or feedstock for new manufacturing (or we should say “re-manufacturing”) and products. Any measurement of a circular economy must be weighted strongly in favour of the use of waste as a resource for remanufacturing. Where waste is discarded or incinerated, or in any case where the value is lost, any performance system should not recognise any value for that lost resource.
We believe it is essential in the nation’s decarbonisation efforts and those to enhance and secure national capability and capacity for essential materials and future green metals production, that waste be recognised as a high-value input for the various high-tech manufacturing streams the Commonwealth Government is seeking to achieve. An example is the recent federal green metals consultation paper only primarily considered the elements of renewable energy as a production power source and the use of scrap metals in the manufacturing process.
The vital element not included – and which is crucial when considering true sustainability and in creating a circular economy – is the ability to use a variety of waste resources as feedstock within the production and manufacturing processes of various metals. Indeed, the alignment of recycling and manufacturing with respect to metals (and any manufacturing process) is a concept that can most readily shift the sustainability dial for “unlocking Australia’s iron, steel, alumina and aluminium opportunity”.
The ability to harness the vital materials needed for sovereign capability and renewable energy infrastructure and components is now even more important since the announcement by BHP to close its Australian nickel operations, in addition to foreshadowed copper mine closures.
It is essential we strive to develop a circular economy – or many localised circular economies – in which we keep materials in use for as long as possible via decentralised new green remanufacturing technologies and use these recovered materials to establish new business supply chains. Using “waste as a resource” to build the components and infrastructure needed to electrify our communities is really the only effective safe and sustainable solution for green metals opportunities for Australia. Such an approach would help to create new jobs, along with other economic, social and environmental benefits.
Some emerging technologies and capabilities are available to reform much of the valuable materials contained in many of the “hard to recycle” waste types not subject to traditional waste and recycling processes, such as electronic waste (e-waste), and battery and PV wastes, as well as recovering metals and polymers from millions of tyres, mattresses, appliances and auto waste, into new products and manufacturing feedstock needed to create a truly viable, long terms and sustainable clean energy industry.
But what is missing is the practical, implementation stage for R&D for industrial application, so that existing university-developed technologies can be industrialised and scaled. By successfully piloting and implementing such technologies means local SMEs using these emerging capabilities can become part of new supply chains and help develop ‘green manufacturing’ capability by adopting solutions like those developed by the UNSW SMaRT Centre, such as our decentralised MICROfactorieTM Technology solutions for creating value from waste, especially at sites where wastes are located.
This approach would drive local and regional solutions for hi-tech waste recycling and manufacturing, especially in capturing metals and other essential materials from waste, reforming them into high value materials to help obviate the need for mining, transportation and processing of natural resources which collectively create negative environmental, economic and social impacts.
