Abstract | The evolution of industrial ecology in Australia and designing policy for the future

Over the last decade we have witnessed some subtle changes in supply chains signalling the early stages of an economy in transition. The adoption of industrial ecology (IE) practices is the beginning of a path towards a circular economy. The increasing awareness and application of IE and related practices such product stewardship is leading to a growing acceptance by government and industry as they implement policy and strategy to clean up their supply chains.

Having stemmed from early business-to-business exchanges and by-product exchanges, IE has received substantive support from environmental agencies, such as the NSW EPA and NSW OEH.

The initial investment by the NSW EPA of $5M of the $465M Waste Less Recycle More Policy represented a policy innovation, and in some respects a policy experiment, testing whether IE could become part of a regulatory solution to diverting commercial and industrial waste from landfill. Beyond these government programs, the Australian Industrial Ecology Network (AIEN) continues as a vibrant network of like-minded individuals and companies with a common interest in sustainable development and IE.

Edge Environment has been acting as an agent for change, playing a role in establishing the first by-product exchanges, playing a hand in conceiving the AIEN and delivering the Circulate Program. We have watched the perceptions of industry change and have played a role in promoting IE as a business as usual practice. Regularly, we see opportunities for greater partnerships between industry and government and linkages with other government policies such as energy efficiency, carbon mitigation and cleaner production as some examples. The integration of IE and wider concepts of circularity in government policy and along supply chains will see long-term positive change for business productivity, resource management and environmental outcomes.

This presentation will highlight the successes and failures of government supported IE and provide blueprints for achieving wider, systemic change with industry.

Bio | Sarah Bray EIANZ

Using passion and experience, Sarah drives the delivery of the industrial ecology program at Edge Environment. Coordinating the multiple streams of the New South Wales EPA Circulate programs. She also develops and coordinates the Property Resilience Exposure Program (PREP) to help drive local government built environment resilience. After completing her Masters in Environmental Science and Law at the University of Sydney, Sarah joined the NSW OEH to develop policy and programs. Later, she joined the Edge Environment team to work across sustainability strategy and climate change adaptation. She has experience ranging from communications for large organizations to climate change resilience work for local governments.

In her previous role Sarah developed policy for the NSW Government across the energy and climate change sectors, and has worked with local governments to undertake policy analysis and climate change adaptation projects. She has a solid foundation in the formulation and implementation of policy initiatives that often cut across multiple sectors. Sarah’s policy experience spans policy analysis and research on energy efficiency, renewable energy and climate change policy. She coordinated the development of the Renewable Energy Precincts – a first of it’s kind approach to increasing renewable energy in NSW. As part of this program she developed community engagement materials including brochures, websites and an online calculator for wind farm carbon reduction.