EUROPEAN UNION CIRCULAR ECONOMICS
A RISK MANAGEMENT TOOL , A WEALTH GENERATING OPPORTUNITY AND THE MOST IMPORTANT IDEA OF THE 21ST CENTURY
Rena Dare and Brad Mashman . Brad Mashman was a 2019 Churchill Fellowship recipient and travelled to Belgium , Sweden and the UK to study waste reduction models .
Current economic models inadequately address missed-opportunity costs arising from waste generation because determinations are made on the parts rather than the whole .
What is missing is essential systems , and systems thinking .
The role of the circular economy is to incorporate whole systems into new economic modelling , thereby establishing a new framework for value creation , which is underpinned by high level risk managements strategies .
It is a genuine economic policy challenge . The European Union ( EU ) worked for 30 years to incorporate sustainability and circularity principles into policy frameworks which demonstrates it is a complex public and administrative policy task . However , both the aim and outcomes are clear :
To decouple waste generation from economic growth , and to transition economic activities from primary resource extraction to materials recovery by keeping as many materials and products in supply chains and secondary markets for as long as possible whilst optimising their value / s , and minimising their environmental footprints .
In other words , to be sustainable and engage in true production efficiency where no resources are misused or misallocated .
In March 2019 , The Council of Australian of Government ( COAG ) commenced turning its circular economic policy wheel by releasing a recyclable export ban strategy and subsequent Recycling and Waste Reduction Bill 2020 .
The most important recommendation of our
2019 Churchill Study investigations in Belgium , Sweden and the UK goes several rotations further and takes on the whole rather than a part :
• The Commonwealth to establish a Circular Economic Commission , with units in each state to drive substantive structural policy reform , and
• Treasury to implement taxation reform stimulating circular economic transitions .
What is evident from our investigations was all actors and practioners involved in this exciting economic transition concluded it was not fast enough . There is a genuine
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