MODELLING AN ASPIRATIONAL FUTURE :
HUME AS A CIRCULAR CITY
Dr Scott Valentine , George Osborne , Ian Davies
INTRODUCTION In March 2021 , Hume City Councillors unanimously supported an economic development strategy designed to position Hume as Australia ’ s first urban circular municipality . This is an ambitious program reflecting the sustainable development aspirations of one of Australia ’ s most industrialized municipalities .
With numerous municipalities investigating circular economy ( CE ) development strategies , Hume ’ s journey provides a template for co-designing CE networks . This article will summarize catalysts of this transition , describe the main elements of Hume ’ s circular city roadmap and detail the first stage of the process – an economic opportunity analysis that adopts a fresh modelling approach . The economic opportunity analysis that underpins the strategy incorporates scenario analysis into a computable general equilibrium model and grounds scenario projections through expert panel data provided by industry leaders . By doing so , the model attenuates the risk of economic strategies failing to garner business support , because it involves business in constructing a shared CE vision .
CATALYSTS OF A TRANSITION The City of Hume is a local government area within the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area , boasting an area of 504 km ² and a population of 245,000 . It is home to Melbourne ’ s Tullamarine airport and one of the largest conglomerations of industry in the Greater Melbourne area , hosting over 17,000 businesses of various sizes that provide 121,900 jobs and contributed $ 14bn in GRP to the Victorian Economy in FY18 / 19 . 1 The scale of business in Hume is noteworthy because it has engendered a proactive economic development policy focus , characterised by incentives for businesses that relocate to Hume and extensive business efficiency program support , guided by the principle that efficient businesses generate more jobs .
Hume is home to a diverse ethnic population . Enabling a safe , liveable city amidst high concentrations of industrial activity has been a key challenge for Hume policymakers . It was the first local government to introduce a Social Justice Charter for its citizens in 2004 2 , explicitly prescribing economic , social and cultural rights .
Arguably it is the desire to ensure social , cultural , economic and environmental balance that has engendered support for CE strategy . In Hume ’ s conceptualization of the CE , the main objective is resource optimization . This is achieved by encouraging resource reduction , reuse and repair as priority activities , catalysing product and service innovation around such activities and ensuring that recycling and other material recovery activities are optimized through technology upgrading and advanced material reprocessing . 3
A final force underpinning a CE transition relates to Hume ’ s sizable waste management sector . The municipal waste department processes enormous volumes of waste . In 2020 , the municipality collected 53,689 tonnes of general waste destined for landfills , with half being organic waste . It also collected 52,566 tonnes of recyclable waste through residential collection , recovery centres and hard waste collection , with approximately 40 % of these resources eventually being diverted to landfill due to tainting or commercial unviability of recycling . Hume is home to at least 200 advanced materials reprocessing companies ranging from auto
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