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Waste Expo Australia 2023 advancing towards sustainable resource recovery

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01 Oct, 2023

This post was originally published on Sustainability Matters

With a growing focus in corporate and business circles on waste management, the circular economy and sustainable resource consumption, Waste Expo Australia 2023 comes at an opportune time for leaders to discuss trends, challenges and opportunities for the sector.

With a core theme of ‘Advancing Towards Sustainable Resource Recovery’, Waste Expo Australia features a multi-stream conference and exhibition that will showcase the best and brightest of the waste industry in Australia. Held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre over two days from 25–26 October, attendees interested in resource recovery, sustainability, environment and circularity will have plenty to discover.

The annual conference attracts over 2700 attendees and 60 conference speakers over four streams hosting 100 sessions including:

  • Reuse is the way to go! Say goodbye to single-use, presented by Sandra Mack, Sustainability Victoria.
  • An opportunity not to waste: The case for collaboration across the value chain, presented by Richard Pittard, Cleanaway.
  • The central role of waste to energy in a circular economy, presented by Benoit Englebert, Keppel Seghers.
  • Close the Loop — Turning problem plastic waste into high-value products within the same community the waste was generated, presented by Steve Morriss, Close the Loop.
     

Consultant and innovator Scott McArdle will contribute to several sessions in the Waste to Energy stream, addressing new technologies on the waste-to-energy scene. McArdle’s company, Zerogen, is investing in waste to hydrogen (WXH) technology, which he says has a key role to play in decarbonising both the waste economy and regional economies.

“The waste-to-energy sector is an under-utilised area of impact when it comes to addressing waste management challenges and supporting sustainable solutions. There are several key issues facing the industry in Australia, including policy and regulatory challenges, waste composition and investment.”

Outside the conference, more than 100 international and domestic suppliers will exhibit including Bucher Municipal, EEA Group, Repurpose It, Komatsu, Eldan Recycling and TOMRA Collections, making Waste Expo Australia a good sourcing platform for waste and resource recovery sectors fostering an environment that encourages innovation, robust discussions and idea generation among industry leaders.

Warrick Grime from Bucher Municipal says the opportunity to connect with the industry over two action-packed days is a time-efficient one.

“The waste management industry is in a period of transformation, with ideas like circularity and sustainability coming to the forefront of the national conversation. Being on the ground to connect with fellow industry at Waste Expo Australia allows us to form valuable relationships and share ideas to move the industry forward.”

Waste Expo Australia is strongly supported by industry associations, with the Victorian Waste Management Association (VWMA), Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) and Australian Organics Recycling Association (AORA) all playing key roles in the event’s programming.

Both the conference and exhibition are free to attend, with registrations open now. Register to attend Waste Expo Australia 2023 at www.wasteexpoaustralia.com.au.

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Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

In June, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 E-Waste World, Battery Recycling, Metal Recycling, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Conference & Expo events in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track on a panel with global Circular Economy leaders from Foxway Group, ERI and HP, we explored the evolving role of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and opportunities in the circular electronics economy.

The event’s focus on advancing circular economy goals and reducing environmental impact delivered a series of insights and learnings. From this assembly of international expertise across 75+ countries, here are some points from the presentations that stood out for me:

1. Environmental impact of the digital economy

Digitalisation has a heavy material footprint in the production phase, and lifecycle thinking needs to guide every product decision. Consider that 81% of the energy a laptop uses in its lifetime is consumed during manufacture (1 tonne in manufacture is equal to 10,000 tonnes of CO2) and laptops are typically refreshed or replaced by companies every 3–4 years.

From 2018 to 2023, the average number of devices and connections per capita in the world increased by 50% (2.4 to 3.6). In North America (8.2 to 13.4) and Western Europe (5.6 to 9.4), this almost doubled. In 1960, only 10 periodic table elements were used to make phones. In 1990, 27 elements were used and now over 60 elements are used to build the smartphones that we have become so reliant on.

A key challenge is that low-carbon and digital technologies largely compete for the same minerals. Material resource extraction could increase 60% between 2020 and 2060, while demand for lithium, cobalt and graphite is expected to rise by 500% until 2050.

High growth in ICT demand and Internet requires more attention to the environmental footprint of the digital economy. Energy consumption of data centres is expected to more than double by 2026. The electronics industry accounts for over 4% of global GHG — and digitalisation-related waste is growing, with skewed impacts on developing countries.

E-waste is rising five times faster than recycling — 1 tonne of e-waste has a carbon footprint of 2 tonnes. Today’s solution? ‘Bury it or burn it.’ In terms of spent emissions, waste and the costs associated with end-of-life liabilities, PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) cost us enormously — they generally achieve 3–5% recyclability (75% of CO2 in PCBAs is from components).

2. Regulating circularity in electronics

There is good momentum across jurisdictions in right-to-repair, design and labelling regulations; recycling targets; and voluntary frameworks on circularity and eco-design.

The EU is at the forefront. EU legislation is lifting the ICT aftermarket, providing new opportunities for IT asset disposition (ITAD) businesses. To get a sense, the global market for electronics recycling is estimated to grow from $37 billion to $108 billion (2022–2030). The value of refurbished electronics is estimated to increase from $85.9 billion to $262.2 billion (2022–2032). Strikingly, 40% of companies do not have a formal ITAD strategy in place.

Significantly, the EU is rethinking its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management targets, aligned with upcoming circularity and WEEE legislation, as part of efforts to foster the circular economy. A more robust and realistic circularity-driven approach to setting collection targets would better reflect various factors including long lifespans of electronic products and market fluctuations.

Australia and New Zealand lag the EU’s comprehensive e-waste mandated frameworks. The lack of a systematic approach results in environmental degradation and missed positioning opportunities for businesses in the circular economy. While Australia’s Senate inquiry into waste reduction and recycling recommended legislating a full circular economy framework — including for imported and local product design, financial incentives and regulatory enforcement, New Zealand remains the only OECD country without a national scheme to manage e-waste.

3. Extending product lifecycles

Along with data security and digital tools, reuse was a key theme in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track of the conference. The sustainable tech company that I lead, Greenbox, recognises that reuse is the simplest circular strategy. Devices that are still functional undergo refurbishment and are reintroduced into the market, reducing new production need and conserving valuable resources.

Conference presenters highlighted how repair over replacement is being legislated as a right in jurisdictions around the world. Resources are saved, costs are lowered, product life is extended, and people and organisations are empowered to support a greener future. It was pointed out that just 43% of countries have recycling policies, 17% of global waste is formally recycled, and less than 1% of global e-waste is formally repaired and reused.

Right to repair is a rising wave in the circular economy, and legislation is one way that civil society is pushing back on programmed obsolescence. Its global momentum continues at different speeds for different product categories — from the recent EU mandates to multiple US state bills (and some laws) through to repair and reuse steps in India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Commission has done a scoping study to identify product groups under the Ecodesign framework that would be most relevant for implementing an EU-wide product reparability scoring system.

Attending this event with the entire electronic waste recycling supply chain — from peers and partners to suppliers and customers — underscored the importance of sharing best practices to address the environmental challenges that increased hardware proliferation and complex related issues are having on the world.

Ross Thompson is Group CEO of sustainability, data management and technology asset lifecycle management market leader Greenbox. With facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Greenbox Group provides customers all over the world a carbon-neutral supply chain for IT equipment to reduce their carbon footprint by actively managing their environmental, social and governance obligations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Mustafa Ovec

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