Reducing manufacturing waste: Accelerating the adoption of circular economy practices

Australia’s manufacturing sector contributes significantly to waste generation, producing nearly 13 million tonnes of waste nationwide. In Victoria, this industry stands out as a major contributor, responsible for 39% of the state’s total waste. Specifically, the manufacturing sector generates an average of 4,350 kilograms of waste per full-time-equivalent (FTE) employee annually, resulting in almost 500,000 tonnes of waste per year in the southeast Melbourne region alone. To combat this issue, Victoria's manufacturing industry is actively pursuing strategies to enhance resource efficiency, minimise waste, and mitigate the negative effects of production and consumption.

To support businesses in their effort to improve practices, our project played a crucial role by promoting the rapid adoption of circular economy (CE) practices within the manufacturing industry of southeast Melbourne. CE focuses on optimising resource utilisation, grounded in the belief that the economic system already possesses sufficient resources. By enhancing resource efficiency, the goal is to decouple the economic system from resource extraction and waste generation, while extending the lifespan of resources to their maximum potential.

Our project implemented a three-phase strategy to support businesses to adopt CE practices:

  1. Investigated the successes and challenges of 22 leading CE businesses to understand the journey for the next generation of CE businesses.
  2. Working with South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance, nine local governments, and business association representatives to select the most appropriate strategies to facilitate the adoption of CE practices.
  3. Directly targeted next-generation participants’ capability and confidence to implement CE practices most relevant to their unique business needs.

For Phase 3, we worked with manufacturing businesses that had not yet adopted CE practices. We delivered 4 seminars to raise awareness about the principles and practices of the CE (55 participants) and 4 workshops aimed at developing business-specific CE practices, including planning for implementation (21 participants).

The project involved participants from small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, industry associations, and local government representatives, achieving widespread engagement and knowledge dissemination in the region.

Outcomes

Post-workshop surveys revealed a significant shift in participant attitudes and behaviours towards the CE, including:

  • Predicted an average waste reduction of 29% through the immediate adoption of their workshop-developed strategies, translating to a substantial decrease of 1,261kg of waste per full-time equivalent (FTE) employee annually.
  • Heightened awareness about circular economy practices and a better understanding of the strategic importance of circular economies.
  • Improved capacity to immediately implement CE practices within their operations and enhanced ability to further implement circular economy practices in the future.

In addition, the team has:

  • Hosted 3 government and industry circular economy forums, involving over 150 influential representatives for wider circular economy adoption
  • Partnered with 2 further local councils to support their drive businesses to adopt circular economy practices
  • Created a Monash Circular Economy Roundtable for leading circular economy government and business representatives to share their experiences and develop collective capacity

Monash researchers

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Project details:

De Vass, T., Nand, A., Bhattacharya, A., Prajogo, D., Croy, G., Sohal, A., & Rotaru, K. (2023). Transitioning to a circular economy: Lessons from the wood industry. International Journal of Logistics Management, 34(3), 582-610.