Mapping WA’s circular economy Stage 1: Achieving Net Zero

This Stage 1 project aims to measure the materials footprint linked to final consumption in Greater Perth, Western Australia (WA), quantifying resource inflows and waste outflows and related energy use and GHG emissions.

Building on the materials footprint, localised stock and flow accounts of actual material and energy use will be prepared, providing a high-level overview, and understanding of the socioeconomic metabolism of Greater Perth and the wider WA economy.

Participants

• • Department of Transport (WA)
  • University of Western Australia (in partnership with Curtin University)

Project background

Over 75% of natural resources are allocated and consumed in cities, where over 70% of global waste production is also generated (Zaman and Lehmann, 2013 ). With approximately half of the GHG emissions associated with material handling and use (IRP, 2019 ), there is a clear need to transform linear value chains and preserve material value to achieve Net Zero at the city scale (UNEP, 2021 ).

Circular economy strategies are becoming increasingly more popular in mitigating waste production and helping to maintain materials and resources in use, effectively reducing the need to extract virgin materials in production processes (Kirchherr et al., 2017 ). This equally applies to resources, such as concrete, metals, glass, electronics, plastics, fossil fuels, and biomass at an industry and household level.

Problematically, however, creating closed material loops at a product or industry level alone does not ensure environmental sustainability (Harris et al., 2021 ), highlighting the importance of a systems-wide approach at a city or regional level that goes beyond waste management strategies (Schandl et al., 2020 ). Such an approach must monitor and integrate indicators with a clear understanding of the circularity mechanism concerning economic activity and environmental performance (Lieder and Rashid, 2016; Pauliuk, 2018 ).

Together with Local and Regional Councils, State departments, and industry partners, this project will further enhance our understanding of circularity in Western Australia (WA) with the ultimate aim of providing a key performance indicator framework within a digital circular monitor (suggested working title: Western Australian Tool for Circular Horizons – WATCH) for effectively monitoring and driving circular outcomes.

Such comprehensive tools are critical in understanding urban metabolism and supporting cross-sector collaboration towards enhanced resource efficiency and environmental performance. These innovative tools and processes will provide governments, industry, communities, and any interested stakeholders with the conceptual and empirical backbone to support circular planning and decision-making related to waste minimisation and effective circular applications within WA (D’amato and Korhonen, 2021 ). This project will position WA as a global leader in integrating circular economic and Net Zero approaches within a digital monitoring framework.

The purpose of the longer-term project is to map and monitor the flow of materials from extraction to end-of-use and support the identification of key opportunities towards greater circularity and Net Zero emissions for WA cities. The research will create tangible methods and tools for WA cities to measure, monitor and report on enhanced material flows (including narrowing, slowing, cycling, and regenerating) and assess progress towards decoupling raw material use and environmental impacts from economic activity and societal needs.

Through local and state government demonstrations, the project will inform resource strategies (including enhanced resource efficiency, closing supply chains, product lifetime extension, and residual waste management) and enable scale-up plans at the city and regional scale.

Project objectives

This project concerns the first step in the process of developing such a digital circular economy monitoring framework for WA. This stage 1 project will provide a high-level overview and understanding of the materials footprint and socioeconomic metabolism of Greater Perth within the wider WA context.

Stage 1 will measure the materials footprint linked to final consumption in Greater Perth, quantifying the resource inflow and waste outflow and related energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Building on the material footprint, localised stock and flow accounts of actual material and energy use within the administrative boundaries of Greater Perth will be prepared, providing a high-level overview, and understanding of the socioeconomic metabolism of Greater Perth, and the wider WA economy.

The project objectives are to:

• determine the state of play in circular economy systems research and policy internationally and locally;
• quantify and visualise the resource inflow and waste outflow linked to final consumption within Greater Perth and the related energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions;
• estimate, map and visualise the material stocks and flows within the administrative boundaries of Greater Perth; and
• recommend further stages and dissemination will conclude Stage 1.

Please note …

This page will be a living record of this project. As it matures, hits milestones, etc., we’ll continue to add information, links, images, interviews and more. Watch this space!

References

• D’amato, D. and Korhonen, J., 2021. Integrating the green economy, circular economy and bioeconomy in a strategic sustainability framework. Ecological Economics, 188, p.107143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107143
• Harris, S., Martin, M., & Diener, D. (2021). Circularity for circularity’s sake? Scoping review of assessment methods for environmental performance in the circular economy. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 26, 172-186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2020.09.018
• International Resource Panel (IRP) (2019). Global Resources Outlook 2019: Natural Resources for the Future We Want. United Nations Environment Programme. Nairobi, Kenya. https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/27518
• Kirchherr, J., Reike, D. and Hekkert, M., 2017. Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions. Resources, conservation and recycling, 127, pp.221-232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.005
• Lieder, M. and Rashid, A., 2016. Towards circular economy implementation: a comprehensive review in context of manufacturing industry. Journal of cleaner production, 115, pp.36-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.12.042
• Pauliuk, S., 2018. Critical appraisal of the circular economy standard BS 8001: 2017 and a dashboard of quantitative system indicators for its implementation in organizations. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 129, pp.81-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.10.019
• Schandl, H., King, S., Walton, A. et al. (2020). National circular economy roadmap for plastics, glass, paper and tyres. CSIRO, Australia.
• United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) (2021). Planetary Action Report. https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/37946/UNEP_AR2021.pdf
• Zaman, A.U. and Lehmann, S., 2013. The zero waste index: a performance measurement tool for waste management systems in a ‘zero waste city’. Journal of cleaner production, 50, pp.123-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.11.041