How does Australia measure up as a circular economy?

A new CSIRO report has revealed that Australia still has a way to go before achieving its best possible circularity rate.

The report, ‘Australian material flow analysis to progress to a circular economy’, goes into detail about how Australia uses its resources. By highlighting the links between human consumption and environmental impacts, it aims to inform approaches to resource efficiency, waste minimisation and greenhouse gas abatement.

A key finding was that Australia’s circularity rate — the measure of efficiency in which resources are reused and recycled within a system — is half (4%) that of the global average (8%).

CSIRO scientist and report author Dr Alessio Miatto explained that Australia’s material footprint refers to the total amount of raw materials required to support the country’s goods and services.

“Over the last decade, Australia has successfully reduced its material footprint, increased its circularity rate and curbed air emissions,” Miatto said.

“However, the Australian economy uses four times the materials to fulfil each person’s needs compared with the world average.

“Australia’s circularity rate has increased marginally, from 3.5% in 2015, to now closer to 4%. However, it remains at half the global average. These metrics highlight opportunities to transition to a more circular and sustainable economy.”

The report used data on economy-wide material flows for 2019 to provide insights into Australia’s circular economy potential. It found that housing and transport make up half of Australia’s material footprint, with food responsible for another 22%.

Material use is the single-largest determinant of energy use and emissions, responsible for over 50% of global warming, and therefore serves as a big lever to reduce emissions.

“In 2019, Australia extracted and harvested 2587 million tonnes of materials. These virgin materials were supplemented with 119 million tonnes of imports and 39 million tonnes of domestically recycled materials. More than half of these materials were exported to other countries,” Miatto said.

Australia could double its circularity rate if it employed circular economy opportunities in housing, mobility, food and energy provision, according to Dr Heinz Schandl, who leads CSIRO’s circular economy research.

“We need to consider efficiencies in the way we measure, process and use our materials. Australia currently recycles 39 million tonnes of materials, which is about half of all materials captured through municipal, industrial and construction waste schemes. The other half is going to landfill, which is a lost opportunity,” Schandl said.

“To bolster circularity, we need to focus on increasing our recycling throughput. We also need to rethink how we use materials, from designing products that use less material to schemes that extend the lifetime of products.”

Reducing the material being extracted and ending up in landfill improves resource efficiency and cuts down on pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

“The reuse and recycling of goods will provide longevity for goods and foster local jobs,” Miatto said. “… local circular supply chains are also more resilient to supply interruptions and other economic shocks than the capital-intensive global supply chains that favour virgin materials.”

The ‘Australian material flow analysis to progress to a circular economy’ report is part of CSIRO’s Circular Economy for Missions enabling initiative, which aims to support Australia’s transition to a circular economy by reducing waste, supporting economic and job growth, and reducing adverse environmental and health impacts from waste production and disposal.

This project is supported with funding from the Australian Government under the National Environmental Science Program.

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