Zero Waste: Learning how to minimise waste and change the world, according to the experts

The concepts of ‘Zero Waste’ and working towards a ‘Circular Economy’ have gained popularity in recent years. While we all know that it’s important to reduce what ends up in landfill, the idea of a circular economy involves a major rethink of how our systems work. To understand more, we spoke with Marty Rowell, Vice President of Circular Economy Victoria, Co-founder of TCX (The Cup Exchange), and CEO and founder of Circulise. Marty has been at the forefront of efforts to empower businesses interested in adopting circular economy principles.

Hi Marty, can you tell us what is a ‘circular economy’? 

For me, the circular economy is about embedding sustainability into businesses by designing waste out of the system from the start. Rather than just focusing on being more sustainable, a circular economy involves recovering materials when a product is no longer needed – whether by a consumer or business – and reusing them. This could involve remanufacturing, refurbishing, or any other process that enables the material to be used as input for other products or services.

It’s about making sustainability work in a business context. A big part of that transformation is moving from products to services. The whole idea of materiality changes when you think: do you really need that material, or do you need the use of that material for a certain period of time?

What are some of the ideas behind Circular Economy Victoria? 

Circular Economy Victoria is a community-based, charitable organisation for people enthusiastic about sustainability. CEV runs community events, film screenings and networking opportunities for people interested in circular economy ideas. Our goal is to bring like-minded individuals together to collaborate and grow.

We also engage with entrepreneurs looking to integrate circularity into their businesses. Whether it’s reducing waste or developing new business models, we support those aiming to explore and implement circular practices.

Can you also tell us about The Cup Exchange? 

The Cup Exchange was my first major venture into the circular economy. Inspired by the ABC series War on Waste back in 2017, I set out to prove that circular principles could be applied to business. The aim was to eliminate the waste created as a result of single-use items by designing products with an underlying system that effectively enabled material recovery, reuse and re-manufacturing at end of life, whilst being easy and convenient to use.

At events, where there is more control over the area, it is relatively easy to collect and recover items. But scaling that to a city-wide or country-wide level poses greater challenges. We had to figure out how to recover the cups and who would be responsible for cleaning and reusing them.

To address this, we built an IT system to track each cup. We also designed a new cup using a material called Tritan, a durable medical-grade copolymer, which could be washed and reused thousands of times. Each cup was laser-marked with a unique QR code, allowing us to associate the cup with the custodian and assisting them with their next action to keep the cups flowing effectively through the system.

A major part of the initiative involved educating consumers and baristas. If a cup was damaged, cafes would simply remove it from circulation, and that would follow a re-manufacturing path, ensuring 100% of the material went back into making a new cup. The goal was to maximize product longevity while completely avoiding landfill.

And there’re other businesses that are now starting to take this approach. You’ll see some of these businesses at the Zero Waste Festival this weekend. The important questions to ask are: How do you recover materials, how can you reuse them, and how do you keep them circulating as long as possible? And there’re lots of different degrees to which you can have circularity. So even repairing, keeping things in circulation longer is a really good start. But if you can design the product to be easily repairable, the more easily repairable it is, the more likely it is to stay in circulation longer.  

Do you have other examples of great businesses doing work in this space? 

One of my favourite examples is Repeat Audio, a company that makes modular headphones. Traditional headphones are often discarded when small parts break, like the cord. But Repeat Audio designed headphones so that every part is modular, and they provide their customers with free repairs. If the speakers, headband, or cord break, you can easily replace that component. The returned parts are then re-manufactured by Repeat Audio where possible or recycled to avoid e-waste.

They’ve also innovated with their packaging. Instead of bulky boxes, the headphones are shipped in a slim envelope, which also doubles as the return packaging if you need to send parts back for replacement. This makes the entire process more efficient and sustainable.

Do you have any tips for people interested in learning more about circular economies? 

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Circle Economy produce excellent publications, and the ACE (Australian Circular Economy) Hub also publishes valuable content on the circular economy in Australia. While Australia’s circular economy is maturing, we still have a lot to learn from Europe, where these practices are more advanced.

And then the learning comes from speaking to practitioners. It’s one thing to read about the circular economy, but it’s another thing to get involved and run a business. That’s when you really learn about it.

You can catch Marty at the Zero Waste Festival at Fed Square, where he will be speaking as part of the Eco-Networking Forum Turning Ideas into Impact, from 4.30–6.30pm this Saturday 14 September in The Edge. 

Michael Dossor is a Group General Manager at Result Group, who have brought EcoMark Natural Branding to Australia. Michael has over 35 years’ experience in the packaging industry, and actively participates in education forums and advisory groups, helping to shape the packing industry’s future. We wanted to learn about what EcoMark Natural Branding is, and how it can make a difference, so asked Michael to tell us more.

Hi Michael, what is EcoMark Natural Branding and how it can help reduce waste? 

EcoMark Natural Branding is a game-changing labelling solution we’ve recently introduced to the Australian market. It’s a high-resolution laser that gently removes the outer layer of a fruit or vegetable’s skin, ever so slightly etching the surface. This process eliminates the need for traditional fruit stickers, which means no more waste from labels or packaging materials. The label, the backing paper are gone … it’s packaging without packaging! It’s a safe, contactless way to label produce, and it’s incredibly cost-effective because it uses no ink and has no ongoing consumable costs. Plus, it’s super versatile – you can use it on a wide range of fruits, vegetables, and even other products like bread and confectionery without affecting the quality or shelf life. 

How did the idea for the business come about? 

The idea for EcoMark Natural Branding came from our desire to innovate and create more sustainable packaging solutions. Over the years, we’ve partnered with leading global companies and our partners like EcoMark and Macsa to bring this unique technology to Australia. We saw how much waste traditional labelling methods were creating, especially in the fresh produce sector, and we wanted to provide a greener alternative.  

What are the best things about being part of the zero-waste movement? 

Being part of the zero-waste movement is incredibly rewarding for us at Result Group. It’s exciting to be at the forefront, offering innovative, sustainable solutions that genuinely make a difference. As a company specialising in coding and marking, labelling, sleeving, traceability and resealable packaging, we see firsthand the immediate positive impact our products have on reducing waste and promoting environmental responsibility. 

Being part of this movement also allows us to connect with like-minded organisations and consumers who are equally passionate about sustainability. It’s all about making a real, tangible impact today to ensure a better, more sustainable future for everyone. 

Michael Dossor, a Group General Manager from Result Group will be speaking as part of the ‘From Plate to Policy: Tackling Food Waste Solutions’ panel on 14 September at 3pm in The Edge, as part of the Zero Waste Festival at Fed Square.  

Melissa Pineda is a volunteer with Beach Patrol, who will will be exhibiting at Zero Waste Festival at Fed Square. We spoke with Melissa to understand more about what Beath Patrol does, and how they work at the grassroots-level to reduce pollution and protect the environment.

Can you tell us about Beach Patrol? How did the initiative begin? 

Beach Patrol Australia Inc is a statewide network of 50+ community clean up groups. It started in St Kilda with concerned locals picking up litter! Through Beach Patrol and Love Our Street, we hold monthly clean ups on beaches, creeks, open spaces and streets. Led by volunteers, we foster a sense of pride in our local communities and raise awareness of the damage done by littering – in particular plastic pollution. Each group has its own leader or leaders who are volunteers and members of the community. Each group may run slightly differently but all aim to have monthly group cleans. Concerned, active or just keen to socialise groups of locals meet monthly to collect plastic litter and prevent it from harming marine life and ecosystems. The collected data is logged in the LitterStopper app, contributing to the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action’s LitterWatch database. This data is then used to advocate for changes that will reduce litter, raise awareness, and support the government in tackling litter-related issues.  

Our unique app ‘LitterStopper’ enables Beach Patrol and Love Our Street groups and other organisations and individuals to log their litter collections. Our data is transmitted directly to DEECA to help inform waste policy. 

How can someone get involved with Beach Patrol? 

Getting involved with Beach Patrol is easy. You can find a Beach Patrol group in your postcode and sign up to receive email notifications about upcoming cleans. Most groups have a Facebook and/or Instagram page too, and you can follow them on social media to get notifications (some group leaders communicate through email, some through Facebook and some do both!).  

You can then elect to participate in monthly clean-up events and contribute to the effort to remove litter from your local area. There’s no obligation to attend every clean; volunteers are welcome to join whenever they’re available. 

What are the best things about Beach Patrol and the work that you do? 

Volunteers directly contribute to a cleaner environment and the protection of wildlife, so it’s about making a tangible difference. You are also able to connect with like-minded people and enjoy the outdoors all while contributing to a larger cause. 

In 2023, Beach Patrol cleaned up 24 tonnes of litter from 1,829 clean ups, collecting 48,000 items that could be returned to the container deposit scheme.  

Come and visit the Beach Patrol stall at the Zero Waste Festival this weekend to learn more about how you can get involved in your local community. 

Belle Goldman is the CEO and co-founder of FoodFilled, who will be at Fed Square this weekend as part of the Zero Waste Festival. We spoke with Belle to learn more about the work FoodFilled does.

Hi Bell, can you tell us about FoodFilled?

FoodFilled is an innovative youth-led, volunteer centric food rescue charity, established to combat the intersecting crises of food waste and food insecurity. We exist because 1 in 3 Australian households are food insecure, unsure of when their next meal will be and yet 1.3 billion tonnes of edible food ends up in landfill every year which irrevocably damages our environment.   

Our youth-focused, localised approach allows us to harness the power of community members – specifically school and university aged students – to partner with local food retailers, big and small, to rescue their leftover, excess or unsold edible food and take it directly to local charities in need. This sustainable circular economy model means we can bridge gaps left by the large food rescue organisations, efficiently and effectively getting essential food support to those who need it most whilst ensuring that no food retailers or amount of edible food, no matter how small, are overlooked or left behind. 

How did the charity start and how has it developed?

In September 2018, the idea for FoodFilled was born as an effort to fill the gaps left behind in our community. What began as a humble, informal initiative quickly uncovered a critical and widespread need. This insight drove us to formally establish and register FoodFilled as a not-for-profit in June 2020, with a bold commitment to addressing food wastage and hunger on a larger scale.  

We now provide over 20,000 meals every month from 10,000+ kilos of edible food rescued, driven by hundreds of dedicated volunteers, from over 145 suburbs across Melbourne, who have collectively contributed between 7,500 and 8,000 hours to FoodFilled since our inception—nearly a full year of service.  

Where do you source the food items from and where does it go? 

FoodFilled sources its food items through a broad network of retailer partnerships across Victoria. We collaborate with a diverse range of food businesses, from small independent cafes, bakeries, grocers, and restaurants to medium and large-scale operations, including supermarkets like Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and IGA. We are dedicated to supporting local food retailers, prioritising partnerships with smaller businesses that often lack the resources or people-power to implement a food waste plan. Many of these food businesses are too small to be served by other food rescue organisations, but our unique localised model makes us perfectly suited to partner with and support these businesses. 

Once collected, the rescued food is distributed to local charities and community organisations, delivering vital relief to those in need. Our support is inclusive, serving the entire Melbourne community. We provide free food donations to any organisation in need, including those aiding youth in crisis, families, asylum seekers, the homeless, individuals escaping abusive situations, residents of rehabilitation centres, and the elderly and vulnerable. This all-encompassing approach not only reduces food waste but also addresses food insecurity across multiple critical areas in our community. 

What is the best thing about the work that you do at FoodFilled?

The best thing about our work is how it builds and strengthens community ties while empowering young people. We create a vibrant network where individuals and community organisations come together to support one another, fostering a deep sense of unity and collaboration. By focusing our efforts on young people, we provide them with opportunities to become leaders and active contributors to their communities. It’s truly inspiring to witness how these connections not only address immediate needs but also cultivate the next generation of change-makers who are committed to making a positive impact. 

Foodfilled will be exhibiting as part of Zero Waste Festival at Fed Square this weekend.