Submission—Circular Economy inquiry

On 8 November 2024, the Academy made a joint submission with the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology to the Opportunities in the Circular Economy inquiry.

Download submission (PDF, 240KB)

There are scientific opportunities in the circular economy that will drive Australia’s circular economy and sustainable industry transition. Synthetic biology – the application of engineering principles to biology – can be used to redesign biological systems for environmental problem-solving.

The submission identifies the following opportunities to scale up the adoption of circular economy principles:

• Establish a national framework to standardise ‘waste’ definitions and incentivise waste as a resource.
• Deepen collaboration between government, academia and industry to define research missions and drive circular and bioeconomy growth.
• Invest in advanced recycling infrastructure and localised waste management systems to enhance waste recovery and create skilled local jobs.