Circular economy principles

While initiatives in Australia aim to reduce waste to landfill, current waste generation rates, future growth projections, and recycling performance make it clear that these efforts alone are insufficient. Achieving Australia’s CE targets requires a shift from the familiar linear mindset – focused on “take, make, waste” – to a circular mindset that emphasises resource regeneration, reuse, and efficiency. This transition offers not just environmental benefits but also opportunities to gain a competitive advantage in the market.

At SMEC, we view best practice in efficient and circular waste management to be when projects enable the transformation of solid material, energy and water waste into resources that circulate over and over. By aligning with Ellen McArthur’s three core principles of CE together with the 10R Principles of CE Framework (e.g., Refuse, Redesign/Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Repurpose, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Recycle, Recover), we aim to design out waste at its source and contribute to a more sustainable future.

Taking a circular approach when designing infrastructure and future urban communities makes for a seamless and integrated resource system ensuring that resources are continuously circulated back to regenerate our nature and to create a climate positive and healthy environment.

Lessons from global leaders

Australia currently falls short of its 80% resource recovery target. Drawing on over two decades of CE experience in Sweden and the UK, SMEC’s Circular Economy lead, Linda Nordin, highlights key practices from global leaders that Australia can adopt to accelerate its progress:

• Tailored Collection Services: custom-designed systems based on household types and demographics to ensure participation, reduce contamination, and maximise recovery.
• Supportive Policy and Legislation: introduce mandatory targets, such as food waste separation, single-use plastic bans, and landfill bans, as seen in the EU, to encourage compliance and drive innovation. For example, the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) has been a key step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving sustainability, and advancing the circular economy. Australia’s new mandatory sustainability reporting requirements, effective from January 2025, are currently only designed to cover climate-related financial disclosures but have the opportunity to be expanded to cover a broader sustainability scope including CE, aligning corporate practices with national goals and accelerating the adoption of CE principles.
• Consumer Education: carbon footprint and recycling labels on products empower informed choices, increasing accountability across the supply chain.
• Business Commitment: companies embracing CE principles view sustainability as a competitive advantage, with models emphasising reuse, repair, and resource efficiency.
• Circular Infrastructure: circular precincts, recycling malls, and battery recycling hubs streamline resource recovery and promote industrial symbiosis.

Every community and business faces unique challenges. By thinking outside the box and implementing tailored, cost-effective solutions, organisations and municipalities can play a pivotal role in advancing Australia’s CE goals.

Applying a 5-step approach to CE

To achieve a modern operational waste management system that aligns with the principles of CE, we have developed a 5-step approach to embed CE principles across infrastructure projects, businesses, local government areas (LGAs), and communities.

The framework focuses on delivering measurable outcomes and practical solutions to reduce waste, emissions, and costs and help projects align with Circular Framework targets, ISO and ISC standards.

Through feasibility studies, cost-benefit analyses, and tailored strategies, we can empower stakeholders to transition towards a more resilient and sustainable circular economy.

Below, we highlight three practical examples of how to introduce Circular Systems to reduce emissions and increase diversion rate.

Tailored collection systems: overcoming Australia’s unique challenges

Australia’s vast geography and diverse communities pose challenges to waste collection and reprocessing. Examining the supply chain is crucial, and closing the loop starts with designing affordable collection systems for councils that provide sufficient, uncontaminated quantities of feedstock for reprocessing. Without this, closed-loop systems cannot function. However, Australia’s supply chain often struggles with insufficient or contaminated feedstock for reprocessing facilities.

Food waste, a key target for combating climate change, presents a significant opportunity. It contributes one-third of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, generating 8 per cent of global emissions annually. Yet, food waste collection and reprocessing remain limited across Australia, with some local governments finding systems like FOGO (Food Organics and Garden Organics) cost prohibitive. Tailored solutions are essential, considering demographic factors such as urban density, suburban layouts, and remote communities.

Drawing from international case studies can guide the development of cost-effective systems suited to Australia’s unique needs. In Europe, food waste is often co-digested with other organic materials at anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities, including sewage treatment plants, to produce biogas and compost. This approach reduces emissions and closes resource loops. SMEC advocates for integrating scalable solutions in Australia by combining residential, industrial, and commercial collection streams. Proven technologies such as in-vessel composting, and AD can reduce emissions – preventing up to 616 kg CO₂-e per tonne of food waste compared to landfill – while creating valuable renewable resources.

SMEC has collaborated with local governments to develop innovative, source-separated services for co-mingled, food, and green waste. These solutions, inspired by global best practices, help lower collection costs, improve feedstock quality, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ultimately closing the loop.

To advance circular systems, Australia must expand its collection infrastructure, implement financial incentives, and mandate commercial recycling. International examples from Sweden, the UK, Germany, and beyond demonstrate how technologies like multi-compartment bins, underground vacuum systems, and mobile recycling vans can achieve high participation and low contamination rates. By adopting such approaches, Australia can increase recycling rates, cut emissions, and move closer to 80 per cent circularity.

Circular hubs and precincts: catalysts for industrial symbiosis

SMEC leverages national and international expertise to develop circular hubs that drive sustainable practices and foster industrial symbiosis. Globally, initiatives like the Renew Hub in Manchester and Sweden’s ReTuna Återbruksgalleria – the world’s first recycling mall – offer insights and inspiration for similar projects in Australia.

Circular hubs come in various forms, ranging from small-scale reuse centres for household goods, tools, and textiles to advanced reprocessing facilities and recycling malls. Closer to home, local initiatives such as the Circular Economy Club on the Gold Coast play a critical role in promoting knowledge sharing, collaboration, and circular practices across cities.

ReTuna Återbruksgalleria—the world’s first recycling mall

These hubs are instrumental in managing bulky residential and commercial waste, as well as construction and demolition materials. By fostering reuse, they reduce emissions – for instance, reusing one pair of jeans saves 20kg of CO₂, large furniture 80kg, and electrical equipment 160kg. Such efforts align with Australia’s Net Zero targets and Circular Economy Framework goals.

Every city has the potential to develop a Circular Hub tailored to its unique needs and demographics. Brisbane and the Gold Coast represent exciting opportunities as they prepare for the 2032 Olympic Games with a commitment to climate neutrality. By collaborating with local governments, industries, and communities, Australian cities can overcome challenges like high initial investments and create sustainable reuse and sharing infrastructure that benefits both the environment and local economies.

Integrating Circular Economy principles into the built environment

As a multi-disciplinary engineering firm, SMEC has a long history of delivering major infrastructure projects around the globe. The Waste and Resource Recovery team within SMEC collaborates closely across disciplines to assist engineers in embedding CE principles into infrastructure projects for the built environment.

By applying the four foundational principles – adaptability, deconstruction, circular material selection, and resource efficiency – SMEC can work with clients to make the shift from linear to circular design thinking.

This shift can be implemented across infrastructure sectors, including rail, roads, hydropower, energy, reprocessing facilities, and urban communities. For example, in Queensland, SMEC worked with the Department of Transport and Main Roads (QTMR) to achieve the first ISC ‘Leading’ IS Rating for a QTMR project by integrating sustainable design and construction methodologies on the M1 Upgrade: Varsity Lakes to Burleigh project. The team were able to integrate Australian-first innovations including concrete fracturing, invertebrate sensitive road design and also retain significant infrastructure to reduce material use and waste.

We can also look to examples from ecologiQ, an initiative developed as part of Victoria’s Big Build, for inspiration to provide a framework for reuse and integrating recycled content across Victoria’s infrastructure projects.

The process begins with measuring current performance to establish baselines for achieving higher standards and ratings. Key considerations include:

1. Refuse – integrate existing infrastructure and natural features into designs using regenerative approaches, such as on-site production of green concrete and steel.
2. Design for End-of-Life – ensure designs are repairable, low-maintenance, and durable while allowing easy deconstruction, cost efficiency, and material recovery.
3. Modular Design – incorporate modularity to enhance maintenance, extend longevity, and adapt to evolving needs.
4. Replace Virgin Materials – utilise reused or recycled materials wherever possible, such as green steel and circular building products, to maximise resource efficiency.
5. Design for Adaptability – anticipate future technological advancements by allowing for reuse, material recycling, and digital tracking systems to manage end-of-life processes.

Ultimately, these initiatives aim to reduce embodied carbon in our built environment, which currently accounts for up to 40 per cent of the world’s total embodied carbon.

The ISC ‘Leading’ IS Rated M1 Upgrade project in Queensland utilised an Australian-first concrete fracturing technique to reduce waste volume for landfill, associated greenhouse gas emissions and a reduction in construction time.

Transforming waste into opportunity

Australia stands at a pivotal moment to embrace the Circular Economy and achieve its Net Zero and Circular Framework targets. By implementing practical, scalable solutions, Australia can reduce waste, lower emissions, and foster economic growth through circular innovation. Together, by daring to be innovative, mitigating risks, and taking small, incremental actions every day, we can close the loop on waste, achieve an 80 per cent recovery rate, and build a sustainable, Net Zero future for generations to come.

EcologiQ Launch in Melbourne: a framework for reuse and integrating recycled content across Victoria’s Infrastructure projects

The article first appeared in the Feb/March issue of Inside Waste.