Introduction
Monash University, in partnership with the South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance (SEMMA), and funded by Sustainability Victoria and Monash Business School, is investigating the status of the Circular Economy (CE) adoption in Victoria's manufacturing sector. Through the project, we aim to:
- Establish the extent of relevant circular economy practices (waste prevention, reuse, remanufacture, and upcycling) being implemented by businesses and their tier-one suppliers, across four manufacturing sub-sectors in South East Melbourne, and how effective they are in delivering circular economy outcomes.
- Identify and develop practical approaches for manufacturing businesses to adopt circular economy strategies and practices, where their implementation will lead to a reduction of waste by up to 20% in their operations and tier-one suppliers.
- Identify potential barriers and challenges to adopting these new approaches and identify how these can be overcome through education, training, mentoring, and other support services for businesses and their tier-one suppliers.
This report presents the findings of phase one of the project. We identify 25 leading and celebrated CE businesses in Victoria, and undertook in-depth interviews to explore their experiences and outcomes. Through the interviews we discovered:
- Drivers for CE adoption
- Benefits of adopting CE strategies and practices
- Critical success factors for effective CE implementation
- Barriers and challenges for the implementation and spread of CE
- Key learnings for others' adoption of CE strategies and practices