
Circular Economy 2030 – Developing a roadmap for collaborative action
IN PERSON EVENT SOLD OUT
The Australian government has set an ambitious target to achieve a national circular economy by 2030, establishing a Ministerial Advisory Group of experts to steer reforms at all levels of society. This will drive innovation, make industries more efficient, build onshore manufacturing and create new, green jobs and economic growth. All of this will require rapid transformation, huge investment and a clear pathway with targets for all stakeholders to deliver.
The 2nd Australian Circular Economy Forum, an official side event of the World Circular Economy Forum, will address this by bringing together leaders from government, business, investors, academia and NGOs to discuss the circular economy 2030 opportunity and produce recommendations for a national roadmap. Participants will share evidence-based progress and commitments and recommend the most urgent breakthroughs needed to deliver the 2030 goal.
Five discussion groups at the forum will cover industry & innovation, finance, technology, policy and precincts & infrastructure. Recommendations from these groups will be published in report, shared with the Australian government and presented to a wider audience for collaboration and action at the Impact X Summit Sydney ’23 in November. Download the agenda
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Help drive the circular economy transition
Download the outline agenda below
Australia’s largest multi-stakeholder forum for a circular economy
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High-level plenary speakers and presenters
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50+ speakers from businesses, governments, investors, and innovation agencies
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1000+ participants in person and virtual
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Highly interactive format with roundtable discussions and plenary feedback
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4 Industry working groups;
- Industry & innovation
- Finance
- Policy
- Precincts & infrastructure
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Join Circular Australia and Impact X for this important event and help drive the circular economy transition.
Register Now
Group bookings & other ticket categories available on the registration page.
Speakers

Tanya Plibersek
Minister for the Environment and Water
Tanya Plibersek is the Minister for the Environment and Water, and the Federal Member for Sydney. Between 2013 and 2019, Tanya was Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Deputy Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party. From 2013 to 2016, Tanya was also the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development. From 2017 to 2022 Tanya was the Shadow Minister for Education and the Shadow Minister for Women. Tanya served as a Cabinet minister in the Gillard and Rudd Governments. Tanya was Minister for Health, Minister for Medical Research, Minister for Housing, Minister for Human Services, Minister for Social Inclusion, and Minister for the Status of Women. Tanya grew up in the Sutherland Shire of Sydney and is the daughter of migrants from Slovenia. Like many newly arrived migrants, Tanya’s parents helped build the country in which they made their new home. Her father worked on the Snowy River hydroelectric scheme in the 1950s. Tanya holds a BA Communications (Hons) from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and a Master of Politics and Public Policy from Macquarie University. Before entering Parliament, Tanya worked in the Domestic Violence Unit at the NSW Ministry for the Status and Advancement of Women. Elected to Federal Parliament as the Member for Sydney in 1998, she spoke of her conviction that ordinary people working together can achieve positive change.

Attila Brungs FTSE FRNS
President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of New South Wales
Professor Attila Brungs became President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of New South Wales on 31 January 2022. Prior to joining UNSW Professor Brungs was Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Technology Sydney from 2014 to 2021 and previously the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research. Professor Brungs has held senior positions with CSIRO and McKinsey & Company. He is a Rhodes Scholar with a Doctorate in Inorganic Chemistry from Oxford University and a University Medal in Industrial Chemistry from the University of New South Wales. Some of Professor Brungs’s present key appointments include a member of the Universities Australia Board; the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council; Committee for Sydney; and the NSW Treasury Tech Central Industry Advisory Board. His experience also includes many distinguished past board and committee memberships, including not-for-profit organisations, in addition to numerous state and federal government and institutional appointments.

Lisa McLean
Chief Executive Officer, Circular Australia
Lisa is a circular economy and zero-carbon business transformation leader. She has been successfully advising industry and governments in developing new policy frameworks and regulations that bring about market change to enable the circular zero-carbon economy over the past 14 years. This work has covered the energy, water, waste and mobility sectors in the UK and Australia. Lisa established and led the Open Cities Alliance, a peak industry association with unique membership from government to private sector and research organisations. Open Cities advocates for the circular economy, prosumer rights and new local utility and mobility precinct approaches. In Australia, Lisa initiated and established the Australian Solar Thermal Association (AUSTELA), advised electric mobility providers, and worked with Flow Systems from a start-up sustainable water utility to its major role in shaping a new sustainable water and now multi-utility market. Starting her career as a political journalist working in the national press gallery, Lisa moved to advising ministers and premiers on education and climate policy, before heading to the UK to help establish the Clinton Climate Initiative.

Katie Dowling
CFO and Finance Taskforce Chair at Circular Australia
Katie Dowling is co-founder and CFO of Circular Australia Ltd and part-time lecturer with University of Sydney Chemical Engineering faculty. Prior to working with NSWCircular (an innovation network established by NSW Government and UNSW) and now Circular Australia, Katie worked as a banking executive for over 25 years in a variety of senior Treasury and Financial Markets roles in Sydney and London.

John Thwaites
Chair – Monash Sustainable Development Institute & Climateworks Centre
Professor John Thwaites AM is a Professorial Fellow, Monash University, and Chair of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute and Climateworks Centre. John is Chair of Melbourne Water and a Director of Fair Trade Australia New Zealand. He has been Chair of the Australian Building Codes Board, President of the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) and a director of the Australian Green Building Council. John is the Chair of the National Sustainable Development Council, which has developed the Transforming Australia: SDGs Progress Report 2018. He was previously Chair of the National Sustainability Council an independent Council appointed by the Australian Government, which produced the Sustainable Australia Report in 2013. He is a Co-Chair of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) launched by the Secretary General of the United Nations to provide expert advice and support to the development and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. He is also the Chair of the SDSN Association, which operates the SDSN network around the world. In 2013, John was named as one of the 100 Global Sustainability Leaders by ABC Carbon Express. In 2015, he was awarded the “Planning Champion” award by the Planning Institute of Australia and in 2016 was awarded the Richard J Evans Award for excellence in recognition of outstanding contributions to planning in Victoria. John was appointed Member of the Order of Australia for “significant service to the environment and to the people and Parliament of Victoria in the 2021 Australia Day Honours. John Thwaites was Deputy Premier of Victoria from 1999 until his retirement in 2007. During this period he held various Ministerial portfolios including Minister of Health, Minister of Environment and was Victoria’s first Minister for Climate Change. In these portfolios he was responsible for major reforms in social policy, health, environment and water. Prior to being elected to Parliament, he was a barrister and Mayor of South Melbourne. He has degrees in Law (Honours) and Science from Monash University. He is a Fellow Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Ed Steane
Director, Urban Policy, Transport for NSW
Ed Steane MPIA is an urban policy adviser with a strong interest in the potential of the circular economy to improve urban outcomes for communities in Australia and New Zealand. Ed has a background in environment and planning law and has advised all three levels of Australian government on urban policy and sustainability issues. Ed is currently Co-Chair of the Circular Australia Precincts and Infrastructure Taskforce.

CEO, WWF Australia

Susan Read
Manager, Circular Economy Policy NSW Office of Energy and Climate Change
Susan is a dedicated manager with extensive public sector experience leading high performing teams delivering major policies and high-profile initiatives. Susan has dabbled in a diverse range of areas including sustainability, the built environment, clean technology, circular economy, product stewardship, innovation and productivity, public health, community cohesion and tackling plastic. Susan's career has allowed me to lead teams responsible for designing legislation to ban single-use plastic, design the largest vulnerable household energy efficiency program in Australia, start conversations about the role of the circular economy in the clean tech sector and the development of Australia’s first public sector power purchase (PPA) agreement contract.

Leyla Acaroglu
Chief Circular Designer, Circular Australia
Dr. Leyla Acaroglu challenges people to think differently about how the world works. As an award-winning designer, UNEP Champion of the Earth, social scientist and entrepreneur, Leyla developed the Disruptive Design Method and designs cerebrally activating experiences, gamified toolkits, and unique educational experiences that help people make the status quo obsolete. Her mainstage TED talk on sustainability has been viewed well over a million times, and she leads presentations around the world on activating positive social and environmental change through creative interventions. Leyla is the founder of the UnSchool of Disruptive Design, Disrupt Design, and the CO Project Farm. Leyla is an inspiring communicator and educator with a PhD in how to make change in the world by design.

Romilly Madew
Chief Executive Officer, Engineers Australia

Susan Moylan-Coombs
Founding Director, Gaimaragal Group
The Gaimaragal Group was established to lead social change and create social impact by bringing together like minds and like spirits. We want to create a new story of connection and wellbeing for all people. Our aim is to facilitate the voice for our Elders, empower youth, provide two-way cultural translation to bring everyone together.Former Executive Producer ABC’s Indigenous Programs Unit and Head of Production, NITV/SBS, today Susan uses her skills to be a conduit, weaving culture through mainstream systems and processes to create a new way of doing business that is more sustainable and mindful of future generations. Moylan-Coombs now refers to herself as a Cultural Curator and works across a diversity of sectors from construction, education, housing, health and community.

Yasmin Grigaliunas
Founder & Chief Evangelist, Circonomy (formerly: World’s Biggest Garage Sale)
Yas is a Director and Founder of the award winning circular economy enterprise, Circonomy (formerly: World’s Biggest Garage Sale). An entrepreneur of impact and a circular economy pioneer in Australia, Yas recently closed a $4M equity capital raise to expand nationally, with Officeworks as a key investor and shareholder. Together, through expansion of reuse, repair, resource recovery and recommerce initiatives, Yas is thrilled to work with partners and investors to bring the next phase of growth, seeing her Circonomy vision come to life. Beyond the ‘showreel’, Yas revels in the ‘real reel’…..the space and place where it’s HOT….Honest, Open, Transparent! HOT is just one of the many sound bites Yas creates to synthesise knowledge and storytell through broad and deep lived experiences as an outlier. Yas evokes emotion, inspires introspection and is boldly blunt in her unapologetic unleashed and unfiltered style. Be BRAVE, which for Yas means…Being Raw Authentic & Vulnerable Everyday.

Ian Overton
Chief Executive, Green Industries SA

Ali Abbas
Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Director of the Waste Transformation Research Hub at the University of Sydney
One of Australia’s leading chemical engineers is Australia’s first Chief Circular Engineer. Professor Abbas, is Acting Head of School, School Chemical and of Biomolecular Engineering, Director of the Waste Transformation Research Hub and Sydney Nano's Deputy Director for Industry, Innovation & Commercialisation will work with Circular Australia to accelerate action towards an Australian circular economy by 2030.

Founder, Civic Futures Lab
Bronwyn Voyce is the founder of Civic Futures Lab, an impact lab helping leaders make sense of complexity, navigate uncertainty, and deepen their impact in tackling climate change. She works with governments and ASX-listed corporations to accelerate their transition to net zero through ESG strategy development, policy design and circular program delivery. Bronwyn led the development and delivery of the global first program to divert banned surplus single-use plastics from landfill, through the “Great Plastic Rescue” diverting over 42 tonnes of obsolete stock from landfill. Previously, Bronwyn has worked across the public, private, academic and not-for-profit sectors; and she has held various board positions and is a former elected local government Councillor. Bronwyn is a graduate of the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership, Business and Climate Change: Towards Net Zero Emissions program, is currently undertaking a postgraduate degree in Environmental Management and has a Masters in International and Community Development.
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Matthew England
Scientia Professor of Ocean & Climate Dynamics at the University of New South Wales Climate Change Research Centre

John Gertsakis
Director, Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence
John is a director of the Australian Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence, an adjunct professor with the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS, and co-founder of the Ewaste Watch Institute. John is also a member of the Ministerial Advisory Group on the Circular Economy recently established by the Australian Government.

Head of Circular Economy Development, Planet Ark

Josh Bishop
Head of Sustainable Food, WWF Australia
At WWF, I get to apply my training in economics and public policy to the real world challenge of integrating environmental values in markets and business. So far, our team has focused on beef, finance/banking, forest products (timber, pulp and paper), metals and mining, palm oil, seafood (both wild-caught and farmed), and sugarcane.

Kate Noble
No Plastics in Nature Policy Manager, WWF Australia
Kate Noble joined WWF-Australia to lead the organisation’s No Plastic in Nature Initiative in 2021. In addition to leading WWF’s plastics policy work in Australia, she supports WWF’s engagement in negotiations towards a global treaty to end plastic pollution. Previously, Kate led policy initiatives at a major research institute at Victoria University, was lead adviser to the Deputy Parliamentary Leader of the Victorian Greens, and senior governance and human rights adviser at the BBC’s international development charity. She has worked in and with teams from more than 20 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe. Kate holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Sciences Po (France) and Griffith University (Australia).

Chris Foley
CEO, Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation
Chris specialises in creating value and positive impact for large, complex businesses and organisations by improving the sustainability of their operations, products, packaging, and supply chain. His experience includes driving system changes to deliver sustainability, product stewardship and corporate reputation outcomes in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and the US. Prior to joining APCO in August 2022, Chris led strategic and transformational change in environmental sustainability across leading retailers Kmart and Target where his remit included climate change, product stewardship, circular economy, packaging, plastic, and waste. He has also spent time in the packaging and utilities industries and government. As APCO’s CEO, Chris leads the development and execution of strategies that bring business, governments, and industry together to design, use, recover, reuse and recycle packaging to improve waste, climate, water, material, chemical and social impacts.

Peter Bury
Director – Strategy, Energy and Research, Chemistry Australia
Peter joined Chemistry Australia in 2001 and is responsible for supporting sustainable industry growth, circular economy, and critical chemicals development. He provides specialist strategy, policy and technical advice on the chemicals and plastics sector for governments, industry, research, academia and communities. Peter works with the global and Australian plastics industries to help end plastic pollution by accelerating circular economy outcomes to support the UN Treaty process. He represents industry on the National Reconstruction Fund Value-adding to Resources Working Group, Standards Australia Circular Economy Committee and APCO’s Collective Action Group. Peter has a diverse background of over 40 year’s experience in the automotive, materials handling, industrial and agricultural film, association management and emergency services sectors. His responsibilities have included: manufacturing engineering; marketing and sales; plant management; environment, health and safety, research and development, recycling, and global / national issues management.

Research Principal & Circular Economy Lead, Resource Stewardship Group, Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS
Dr. Simran Talwar is Research Principal and Circular Economy Lead in the Resource Stewardship group at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS. She has over 13 years of research and industry experience in circular economy, policy, and business strategy. Simran leads and manages various projects related to circular economy, product stewardship and net zero pathways, working closely with industry, local, state, federal governments, and international development agencies. Simran is project manager for the India-Australia Plastics Initiative with CSIRO, funded by the Commonwealth government, and for the assessment of benefits and effectiveness of product stewardship in Australia, funded by DCCEEW. She is principal advisor to the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence and leads the chemical and textile industry net zero pathways research for the Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance, funded by the European Climate Foundation.

Azaria Dobson
Acting Executive Director of Planning and infrastructure, Department of Regional NSW
Commitment to regional economic development, fostering innovation and diversification of regional industries with an interest in circular economy, Ag Tech, energy and being part of the transformation of regional NSW.

Libby Chaplin
CEO, Battery Stewardship Council
Libby Chaplin is an expert in product stewardship and sustainability, driving the environmentally sound management of batteries across their lifecycle. In her role as CEO of the Battery Stewardship Council, Libby established Australia’s first nationwide, government-backed battery stewardship scheme, B-cycle. Accredited by the ACCC, B-cycle makes sure that the precious materials in every battery collected get made into something new. It is a unique approach to battery stewardship designed around accreditation and independent verification to rapidly increase battery collection rates across the country. Libby has worked extensively in electronics and battery stewardship, bringing practical experience in traceability and verification from her work in the US, Canada, the Republic of Korea, and Australia.

Senior Advisor, Sustainability solutions, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra
Timo Mäkelä is a senior advisor helping Sitra and its Sustainability solutions theme with strategy work and international connections. It is important for Sitra to understand and learn from what is done and what happens in other countries, especially in the EU, and to increase awareness of the results of Sitra’s work and promote this work internationally.

26th June, Fullerton Hotel Sydney
Reserve your table now
The Australia Pacific Climate Change & Circular Economy Dialogue will highlight the interconnection between climate change and circular economy and how eliminating waste, circulating materials and regenerating nature will be critical to achieving emissions reduction targets in the region. Speakers from Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu will discuss the impacts of climate change on people, land and natural resources and explore how circular economy approaches in society, industry and infrastructure can reduce these impacts, create jobs and build a more climate resilient Pacific.
Regional government leaders shaping climate change and environmental policy today will share how their countries are addressing these issues and identify shared opportunities for us to collaborate, accelerate and scale solutions, together as a region.
Corporate tables and individual dinner seats available on the Reservation page.
Australia Pacific Dialogue Speakers

Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Fiji

Ralph Regenvanu
Minister for Climate Change, Vanuatu

Kristen Tilley
Australia’s Ambassador for Climate Change

Kushaal Raj
Director, Climate Change Division, Office of the Prime Minister, Fiji
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Matthew England

Frances Reupena
CEO, Climate Change, Ministry of Natural Resources & the Environment, Samoa

Associate Principal - Global Decarbonisation Leader, ARUP
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ANZPAC PLASTICS PACT ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT
Supported by APCO
Learn
In our current climate, upskilling has never been more important. ACEF's educational content, informative keynotes and innovative roundtables mean that you can bring valuable skills back to your office – remote or otherwise. Time well spent.
Network
ACEF brings together the people and companies redefining the global circular economy. Experts from every industry will come together for ACEF to share ideas with others in your field, meet your future business partner, or seek advice from people who are innovating.
Lead generation
At ACEF we welcome the people who are tackling the big challenges facing industry today. Our tracks cover topics ranging from deep tech and data science to design. Delegates represent organisations who champion circular principals to reduce net C02 emissions.