Have you ever wondered what happens to an exhibition at your favourite museum when it closes? Or how a green space like the Western Sydney Parklands could be even greener?
Have you wondered how the people who look out for our health also prioritise the wellbeing of the environment?
Whether it’s a familiar place you love in NSW or the organisations working to keep vital infrastructure running, institutions across our state are joining the transition to a circular economy.
Using recycled materials is key to achieving our net zero goals
So, what does a circular economy mean for our state? It means getting as much use out of products and materials as possible and reducing the amount of waste we generate.
Nearly half of global emissions come from the production, consumption and disposal of products and materials. Embracing a circular economy, which includes strengthening recycling markets, will go a long way to securing a sustainable future.
Using recycled products can help:
conserve natural resources and reduce the need to extract raw materials.
minimise waste and reduce the need for landfill.
save energy and reduce emissions generated by manufacturing processes.
By increasing the use of recycled materials in everyday operations, government agencies are not only playing a crucial role in reducing waste across our state, but they also directly contribute to goals outlined in the NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy (WaSM) (PDF, 2.1 MB).
Choose Circular funding boosts NSW Government use of recycled materials
Choose Circular is a new program that aims to stimulate innovation and demand for recycled materials through NSW Government procurement. We’re working with 12 government agencies to kick off projects including:
| Agency | Project |
|---|---|
| Powerhouse (Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences) | Circular materials strategy for exhibitions |
| NSW Ministry of Health | Circularity and recycled materials action plan |
| HealthShare NSW | Deep-dive into circularity of medical equipment and medical consumables’ contracts |
| Taronga Conservation Society Australia | Circular economy action plan |
| Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust | Circularity and recycled materials action plan |
| Property and Development NSW | Best practice guidelines for the circularity of office furniture, furnishings and office ICT equipment |
| TAFE NSW | Circularity action plan |
| Bradfield Development Authority | Guidance and action plan to enable the use of recycled content in Bradfield City Centre and recycled content verification |
| Homes NSW | Recycled materials action plan for the maintenance and upgrade of social housing properties |
| NSW Department of Education | Recycled materials action plan |
| Transport for NSW | Digital solutions to increase the use of recycled materials and enhance circularity across operations |
| Department of Communities and Justice | Circularity action plan |
Government agencies building circularity action plans
These agencies are actively developing strategies, guidelines and action plans, supported by the circular economy markets team. Here are just a few exciting examples of projects in the works.
Powerhouse, the largest museum group in Australia, is developing a circular materials strategy. The strategy aims to reduce waste, increase the use of recycled materials, and use materials more efficiently in exhibitions. It will build sustainable practices into both current and future exhibitions at Powerhouse sites.
Property and Development NSW is responsible for the management and delivery of large-scale or complex real estate projects, transactions, workplace strategy, design and delivery, including the management of the NSW Government’s significant property portfolio. They’re developing best practice guidelines to prioritise circularity in office furniture, furnishings and office ICT equipment across the state. This will reimagine the use of materials while reducing overall costs.
The NSW Ministry of Health is the system manager for the NSW public health system, responsible for promoting, protecting, developing, maintaining and improving the health and wellbeing of the people of NSW. The NSW Ministry of Health is developing a circularity and recycled materials action plan to assess the current state of circularity across all NSW Health agencies to increase the use of recycled materials wherever possible.
Reusing and recycling in transport
Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is responsible for delivering a safe, reliable and sustainable transport network. To maximise the circularity of resources across their vast operations, TfNSW is developing a Materials Exchange Platform (MEP) to track surplus construction materials. This online platform will enable surplus materials and waste streams to be advertised, shared, and reused within TfNSW. This will reduce consumption of virgin resources, increase the use of recycled materials, and minimise waste.
The TfNSW team is also looking to improve their powerful Engineering Cost and Carbon Library, undertaking a project to assess the feasibility of adding circular economy factors. This has the potential to provide valuable insights into the relationships between recycled materials, costs, and emissions.
We’re taking action and reducing waste
Karen Shaw, Manager Circular Economy at Bradfield Development Authority, said ‘The new city of Bradfield presents a significant opportunity to utilise products with recycled content in buildings, parks and public spaces. This project will enable Bradfield Development Authority to assess materials with the highest impact and identify local manufacturers.’
Anne-Marie Poirrier, Acting Director, Sustainability and Circular Economy Partnerships said:
'These projects show that the NSW Government is leading by example in transitioning to a circular economy. The participants encompass most of the NSW Government’s top-procuring agencies, meaning we will see a major leap forward in embedding circular economy considerations into government operations.'
Get in touch
If you’d like to learn more about these projects, or about using circular procurement practices and more recycled materials in your agency operations, reach out to the circular economy markets team.