Helping businesses adopt circular economy principles

Description

Building on our highly successful inaugural circular economy (CE) forum in November 2022, we are delighted to announce our second forum.

Our aim is again to bring together businesses (especially SMEs) and representatives from local and state governments to share their experiences on the CE journey.

Presentations will focus on best practice in developing relevant CE strategies,  implementing principles and measuring outcomes.

There will be opportunities for networking with circularity-engaged councils and businesses and for continued capacity development in partnership with Monash University.

View the program here.

Speakers

Andrew Egan, Managing Director, Egans

Following a career as a market trader and chattels auctioneer in London and Sydney, Mr Egan founded Egans Asset Management and the Wise Office Furniture Program in 1996.
Egans manage large scale relocations in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide for government, corporate and tertiary clients. The Wise Office Furniture Program is a best practice circular economy model that achieves outstanding landfill avoidance and resource recovery outcomes.

Steve Morriss, Founder, Close the Loop

Mr Morriss founded Close the Loop, a product stewardship / circular economy company that specialises in closing the loop on consumer products including toner cartridges, cosmetics and consumer packaging products, in 2000. Close the Loop was a finalist in The Circulars awards in 2019.

Mr Morriss is a pioneer of CE thinking, and also invented of Tonerplas, a high performance asphalt additive made from waste plastics.

Close the Loop recently merged with OF Packaging and successfully listed the new entity called Close the Loop Group (CLG) on the ASX in late 2021.

Katrina Naish, Founder and Director, A Fitting Connection

Ms Naish has more than 20 years’ experience in the fashion and textiles industry, working across design and production. However, over the last decade she found it increasingly difficult to align her values with the industry, and her role within it.

She recently pivoted her business from a boutique fashion consultancy to leading her growing team to educate the community about the complexity of textile waste, and to see this waste as a resource.

Dr Kendra Wasiluk, Program Director, Net Zero and Sustainability, Monash University

Dr Wasiluk has a broad spectrum of sustainability expertise including renewable energy, circular economy, low carbon finance, decarbonisation pathways, intellectual capital, and sustainable building design. She credits Dr Suess’s The Lorax, Ray Anderson and her spiritual life coach Lorie Kodnar, as the guiding lights who helped shape her life-purpose to drive change within organisations by: building sustainability capability and competency; leading by example; and nurturing awakenings in others towards our collective responsibility to act.

As the Program Director, Net Zero and Sustainability at Monash University, Dr Wasiluk leads a passionate team of sustainability experts in the development and delivery of the University’s Net Zero and Circular Economy strategies. Dr Wasiluk is also the Associate Director for Net Zero Transformations at the Monash Energy Institute.

Tina Perfrement, Senior Industry Sector Lead, Economic Development, City of Greater Geelong

Ms Perfrement  has worked with businesses and the public sector to improve performance through sustainability, in Australia and the UK.  Her approach is both strategically driven and practically focused. This is reflected in her achievements during a career spanning more than 20 years.

Ms Perfrement has been involved with developing markets for sustainable goods and services for most of her career.  At the City of Greater Geelong, she is working on a business support program, which stimulates demand for clean technologies and circular economy solutions, and supports local suppliers to respond to this increased demand.

She is on the Board of the Victorian Cleantech Cluster, Deputy Chair of Benefit Geelong and a judge for the Geelong Business Excellence Awards.

Georgie Nathan, Industry Development Officer, Nillumbik Shire Council

With a career deeply rooted in community development and economic growth, Ms Nathan serves as the key liaison between local businesses, government agencies, and industry organisations, with a focus on the agricultural and industrial sectors.

Her role incorporates the promotion of local employment, stimulating job creation, and attracting investments that empower our local businesses. One of her key responsibilities includes spearheading initiatives derived from the Future of Agriculture project, Green Wedge Management Plan, and the Climate Change Action Plan.

A key project this year is to facilitate a Circular Economy pilot project with Monash Business School

Siobhan Dent, Coordinator Circular Economy, Ballarat City Council

Ms Dent leads the City of Ballarat’s Circular Economy team, which is focused on delivering actions that support CE outcomes across the city, including establishment of a regionally significant Circular Economy Precinct at the Ballarat West Employment Zone.

Ms Dent has more than 10 years’ experience working as an economist and in economic development in local and state governments as well as 15 years’ experience owning a small business.

Dian Lipiarski, Team Leader, Recycled First, Sustainability Victoria

With expertise in community engagement, behaviour change and communications, Ms Lipiarski has worked in government, tertiary and manufacturing sectors to drive sustainable outcomes over the past 10 years.

During her time at Sustainability Victoria, she has led the development and strategy of the Buy Recycled Service, which launched in 2022. This service provides tools, resources and events, and aims to enable Victorian councils to increase their use of recycled materials in infrastructure and landscaping. Councils are also provided with education materials, workshops and networking opportunities to uplift procurement documentation to allow for more sustainable product considerations and foster connection between councils.

Professor Amrik Sohal, Department of Management, Monash Business School

Prof Sohal has been a Professor with Monash Business School for more than 30 years. He completed his industrial training and education in the UK.

At Monash University, he has held a number of positions at the faculty level including Associate Dean (Research), Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) and Associate Dean (India Development). His current research focuses on process improvement and innovation, supply chains, circular economy and sustainable procurement.

Associate Professor Glen Croy, Department of Management, Monash Business School

A/Prof Croy is an award-winning educator and researcher. His expertise is in the activation of training and learning for the adoption of new approaches to address emerging challenges.

A/Prof Croy has effectively demonstrated this in a range of business, community, and education contexts, with participants achieving and retaining development objectives.

Mr Roelof Vogel, Department of Management, Monash Business School

Mr Vogel (BSc (Mech Eng), MSc (Eng), MBA (Cum Laude), M.Ind. Relations), has worked in the global packaging industry for 35 years in roles spanning Southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand; Western, Central and Eastern Europe, and Asia. His roles have been in Operations, Sales and Marketing and Executive Management. His new and developing interest lies in the concept and practice of the Circular Economy and he is a PhD candidate in the Monash Business School in this field.

Dr Mayuri Wijayasundara, Director, Anvarta

Dr Wijayasundara is a leading expert in strategy and transformation specialising in enablers of transition towards a circular economy. She currently leads Anvarta, a management consulting practice that advocates circular economy and helps organisations with their transition. She is also engaged as Circular Economy Expert at UN Habitat.

She was a tenured university academic leading multiple research programs in circular economy until 2021, has authored several research articles and is a contributor to acclaimed international forums such as World Economic Forum.

She joined academia following a career as a senior industry practitioner for nearly a decade.

Register below for this event, to be hosted by the Department of Management, Monash Business School.