Circular Economy Innovation Fund – Funded projects

Bass Coast Shire Council

The Circular Economy Business Accelerator Program aims to help local businesses transition to sustainable, Circular Economy models. Targeting 20 businesses in the Bass Coast region, it will enhance understanding and implementation of circular practices and stimulate new circular products and services. Activities include a full-day launch event with keynote speakers and a workshop, personalized consultations, and a practical challenge for actionable Circular Economy projects.

Funding: $96,585.

Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations Ltd

Through the localisation and application of a Country Centred Circular Economy business model and framework on Gunaikurnai Country, this project aims to build awareness, understanding, training, and capability in Circular Economy practices. It will involve staff innovation, co-design, and prototyping of Circular Economy products and services for the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC), including the Bush Cafe, Events, and Tourism facilities. The project will inform future GLaWAC service expansion, develop methodologies for other Traditional Owner Corporations, and showcase First Nations leadership in a circular and regenerative economy.

Funding: $195,380.

Gippsland Climate Change Network

The project aims to strengthen Circular Economy practices among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Gippsland through a dedicated project officer, workshops, web resources, and training programs. Key objectives include increasing Circular Economy knowledge and adoption within SMEs by assessing current practices, enhancing awareness, organising training events, and developing assessment tools. Additionally, the project seeks to encourage business-to-business collaboration for Circular Economy solutions by providing guidance, facilitating stakeholder collaboration, and training local government business concierges for ongoing support.

Funding: $122,000.

Pangolin Associates

Perceptions of the Circular Economy often focus on recycling and are largely theoretical, lacking practical strategies. This project will adapt the Circular Economy Collage Workshop to the Australian and Victorian context, creating a comprehensive service that integrates education, analysis, and strategy. Through interactive evaluation sessions, participants will apply circularity metrics. In tailored strategy workshops, the project team will help participants create a Circular Roadmap and actionable steps to adopt circular business models. Participants will then be connected with relevant stakeholders to implement these insights.

Funding: $61,920.

Planet Ark Environmental Foundation

Planet Ark launched the Australian Circular Economy Hub (ACE Hub) in November 2020, which has become Australia's key platform for Circular Economy knowledge and collaboration. Through the ACE Hub, Planet Ark will partner with CIRCO, a Netherlands Government-funded organisation, to bring their Circular Economy training to Australia. CIRCO focuses on product design and circular business models, providing practical training within organisations or across value chains. The project will offer training to Victorian organisations in sectors like the built environment, textiles, technology, and packaging. Training will be provided by a mix of internationally based CIRCO accredited trainers and locally trained (then accredited) trainers. This initiative aims to equip Victorian organisations with circular design skills, enabling them to create new circular products and extend product life through design.

Funding: $149,460.

Reground

Shopping centres often have rudimentary one- or two-stream waste setups, leading to significant resource loss to landfills and higher costs for centre management and their businesses. The Shopping Centre Circular Economy Capability Building project will provide a Circular Economy education program focused on avoidance and material flow. This program will cover avoidance, minimisation, and Circular Economy implementation. It will target 5 small to medium-sized shopping centres, helping over 100 businesses eliminate waste and pollution while keeping materials in use at their highest value.

Funding: $162,645.

Worn Gundidj Aboriginal Co-operative Ltd

Worn Gundidj Nursery, a native plant nursery, will launch a 6-month blended training program to promote Circular Economy principles among 50 nurseries and gardens in Victoria. The program will educate on waste elimination, product value retention, and ecosystem regeneration. The initiative aims to help nurseries create tailored circular action plans, targeting a reduction of over 300 tonnes of plastic and green waste in 3 years.

Funding: $212,000.

Bellevue Orchard Pty Ltd

Half of all apple production in Australia takes place in Victoria, with 30% of the apples being used for juice manufacturing. Most of the pomace by-product, which makes up about 20% of the dry biomass of apples, goes to landfill. To address this issue, Bellevue Orchard will collaborate with the Deakin BioFactory to conduct pilot-scale bioprocessing of pomace using a biorefinery approach. This approach enables the production of multiple products, with a focus on cellulose as the primary product. The cellulose will then be tested for its applications in textiles and textile additives. This project aims to reduce organic waste sent to landfills while simultaneously creating new products.

Funding:$185,307.

Lotus Energy Recycling

This project will develop Australia's first 'Solar-PV REUSE Protocols' to determine whether a decommissioned solar panel can be reused or repurposed. The protocols will involve a visual inspection, thermal and luminescence scanning, and judgment of the solar panels based on voltage and current outputs, resulting in a Pass or Fail outcome. These protocols will be used to create the course curriculum and materials for a National Accredited Training Program. The program will be piloted with 3 cohorts of participants, followed by a post-delivery evaluation. This project aims to increase the readiness of the solar-PV industry for its inevitable transition to a circular economy.

Funding: $399,554.

Rendine Constructions Pty Ltd

The project aims to design and produce a prototype modular building using obsolete building components from the Victorian School Building Authority's Relocatable Building Program. These components, which would otherwise contribute to waste and recycling, come from decades of manufacturing and deploying relocatable classrooms. The resulting building will serve as a display model, showcasing the application of circular economy principles such as waste reduction and keeping materials in use, at their highest value, for as long as possible. Additionally, the project will explore future adaptations of the building, such as using it as temporary facilities following natural disasters (fire and flood), as pop-up community facilities, and as circular economy demonstration labs for schools.

Funding: $227,100.

RMIT University

The Refashioning: Accelerating Circular Product Design at Scale​ project will develop, pilot, and evaluate a series of open-source guides to help product development and design teams in implementing circular design and systems change. These guides will provide actionable and measurable criteria for implementing circular design and assessing its long-term impact. The guides will undergo commercial validation by multiple brands within the Country Road Group. This approach maximises the potential adoption of circular design and reduces perceived risks associated with its implementation in the Australian fashion and textile industry.

Funding: $165,161.

RMIT University

In partnership with Brickworks and The University of Newcastle, this project, the first of its kind in Australia, aims to develop a new mortar design with tailored adhesion that allows easy debonding from demolished bricks. By using this innovative mortar, whole bricks can be reused in their highest value, thereby extending their useful life, reducing the need for virgin materials, and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in the construction sector. A significant amount of waste is generated from construction and demolition activities, with a large portion being bricks. Very few bricks are reused in their original, and most valuable, form. Instead, they are typically downcycled and used as road base or fillers. The main challenge in reusing demolished bricks lies in the difficulty and cost of removing the mortar that binds them together, without causing damage.

Funding: $300,000.

Swinburne University of Technology

The project is a feasibility study on converting aquaculture by-products into collagen. This collagen can be used to create a range of high-value products, including cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals. Aquaculture production generates significant waste in the form of by-products such as heads, tails, guts, skin, and scales. These by-products are typically disposed of in landfills, causing environmental pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions and leachate contamination. The research team at Swinburne University of Technology developed an economically and environmentally friendly method to produce collagen protein from aquaculture by-products. This approach presents an innovative model for reducing waste in the fish industry, creating high-value products, and eliminating the need for other animal-based sources to manufacture collagen proteins.

Funding: $264,971.