The Australian Government today welcomed the launch of Planet Ark's ACE Hub portal where Australians interested in the circular economy can interact and share their ideas and experiences.
Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management Trevor Evans said that in a circular economy when a product is no longer useful or required for its initial purpose, it is either reused, recycled or remanufactured for use in another product or process.
"And that is what this new online portal is all about-Australians from all walks of life sharing their knowledge and experiences as Australia moves toward a circular economy in which we all value our waste as a resource," Assistant Minister Evans said.
"Over the past three years, the Australian Government has driven a $1 billion transformation of Australia's waste and recycling industry so that we can take care of our own waste and to support more than 10,000 jobs.
"And Australia's budding circular economy is at the heart of those investments, not only because modelling indicates that by doing so Australia could generate $1,860 billion in direct economic benefits over twenty years and save 165 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2040.
"It's just sensible to recognise our used items, previously considered rubbish, as a resource and to remake them into valuable new products use them again as often as we can.
"Moving to a circular economy will support new local jobs in recycling and remanufacturing and mean that manufacturers save money on raw materials. Australia will also reduce its emissions from energy as well as benefiting from a smaller amount of landfill and stockpiled waste.
"What's really exciting is that the Portal has members across the full suite of circular activity taking place in Australia with highly engaged experts from government, industry, business, academia, education and the community all taking part. I encourage you to join the conversation at https://portal.acehub.org.au/ to exchange ideas, share projects and take action."
The Government previously awarded Planet Ark $1.6 million to establish the Australian Circular Economy Hub-a one stop shop to help drive Australia's transition to a circular economy. The new portal is part of this project.
