Dr Lorinda Cramer and Dr Deborah Lee-Talbot give themselves the task of recommending to Australia’s university vice-chancellors that circular economy practices and knowledge be embedded in the tertiary sector.
ATTENTION
Australian university vice-chancellors
cc. Minister for Education, Hon Jason Clare MP
Purpose
It has been a decade since Australia adopted the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (2015). From the National Waste Policy: Less Waste, More Resources (2018) through the National Waste Policy Action Plan (2019, 2022, 2024) to Australia’s Circular Economy Framework (2024), the federal government has committed to a more circular future, in which ‘products are designed to be reused, repaired, and recycled, minimising waste and maximising resource efficiency’.[1] We encourage Australian university vice-chancellors to support this future by embedding circular economy practices and knowledge in the higher education sector.
Background
The introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 by the United Nations provided countries around the world with a framework to tackle the life-changing environmental impacts of climate change.[2] Goal 12 focusses on responsible consumption and production, achievable through the creation of circular economies.[3] A ‘circular economy’ is an economic structure that elevates sustainable production, the reuse and adaption of material outputs, and opportunities for recycling and remanufacturing to reduce disposal into landfill; that is, to keep materials circling in a closed loop.[4]
In 2018, Australia signalled a national commitment to transition to a circular economy with the National Waste Policy, with targets including the reduction of Australian waste by 300kg and the recovery of 15 million tonnes of material each year by 2030.[5] The following year, the National Waste Policy Action Plan set out a guide for implementing the policy.[6] Australia cemented its commitment with the 2024 launch of Australia’s Circular Economy Framework, which provides policymakers with actionable pathways towards the circular economy transition. It also emphasizes the ways in which a thriving economic future can coexist with sustainable, regenerative material processes that prioritise a closed-loop.[7]
Australia’s Circular Economy Framework has the ambitious target of doubling the circularity of our economy by 2035. Yet Australia’s circularity rate of 4.6% sits below the global average of 7.2%. It is significantly lower than countries like Italy (18.7%) and the Netherlands (27.5%).[8] One key way to address this gap is through Australian universities: as the framework emphasizes, universities could lead change through dedicated research, education, and advocacy.[9]
Issues
The education system has a crucial role to play in promoting the social value and environmental benefits of a circular economy, and in providing students with critical knowledge and skills. New educational approaches could lift Australia’s flagging circularity rate by highlighting the tangible ways in which people can participate in and expand the circular economy.
This education can be embedded in the tertiary sector, teaching both future leaders of the circular economy and individuals who must contribute to lasting change. Indeed, universities across Australia are moving towards a circular economy. Some have adopted small-scale internal interventions such as reusable crockery in cafes.[10] Others are minimizing waste through composting and recycling.[11] Others still are delivering courses focused on the circular economy or have dedicated hubs, networks, or centers for circular economy research.[12] Tertiary students, staff, and researchers are ideally placed to develop and adopt the new policies, practices, relationships, innovations, and operations required to make a circular economy successful.
Recommendations
University vice-chancellors should consider the opportunities to provide students, staff, and researchers with the skills and knowledge to push Australia’s circular economy strategies, practices, implementation, and maintenance forward. Australian universities have stated their commitment to sustainable principles, but more concrete action must be taken. We recommend:
- The adoption of circular economy action plans to guide practices at macro and micro levels: from the design of buildings, the procurement, use and disposal of equipment, the reduction of food waste, to on-campus recycling programs.
- Targeted initiatives to develop and strengthen partnerships with industries developing circular design principles, including work-integrated learning opportunities, in order to build student capacity. Such partnership will produce graduates capable of driving innovation and meeting future industry and workplace needs.
- Embedding the circular economy in graduate learning outcomes – what our university describes as ‘empowering learners for the jobs and skills of the future’.[13] This can open exciting avenues for Australia’s future leaders to explore, test, and innovate, and to be part of the ‘shared vision’ that Australia’s Circular Economy Framework imagines for the nation’s future, where all sectors ‘unite in their efforts and drive change’.[14]
Contact Officer/s: Authors
Dr Lorinda Cramer Dr Deborah Lee-Talbot
Deakin University Centre for Contemporary Histories
lorinda.cramer@deakin.edu.au deborah.leetalbot@deakin.edu.au
6 June 2025
[1] Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), Australia’s Circular Economy Framework, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Canberra, December 2024, 4, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/australias-circular-economy-framework.pdf.
[2] United Nations, ‘Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, 2015, https://sdgs.un.org/publications/transforming-our-world-2030-agenda-sustainable-development-17981.
[3] United Nations, ‘Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production’, 2015, https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals/responsible-consumption-and-production.
[4] DCCEEW, Australia’s Circular Economy Framework, 7, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/australias-circular-economy-framework.pdf.
[5] Commonwealth of Australia, National Waste Policy: Less Waste, More Resources, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2018, 7, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/national-waste-policy-2018.pdf; Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), National Waste Action Policy Action Plan, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Canberra, 2019, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/national-waste-policy-action-plan-2019.pdf.
[6] DCCEEW, National Waste Action Policy Action Plan, 3, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/national-waste-policy-action-plan-2019.pdf.
[7] DCCEEW, Australia’s Circular Economy Framework, 4, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/australias-circular-economy-framework.pdf.
[8] DCCEEW, Australia’s Circular Economy Framework, 8, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/australias-circular-economy-framework.pdf.
[9] DCCEEW, Australia’s Circular Economy Framework, 6, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/australias-circular-economy-framework.pdf.
[10] For example: ‘The Reusable Revolution is Here!’, La Trobe University, 6 March 2023, https://www.latrobe.edu.au/mylatrobe/the-reusable-revolution-is-here/.
[11] For example: ‘University’s Impressive Sustainability Efforts in Leading the Circular Economy Acknowledged in Green Awards’, University of Tasmania, 4 December 2023, https://www.utas.edu.au/about/news-and-stories/articles/2023/sustainability-efforts-in-leading-the-circular-economy-acknowledged-in-green-award.
[12] For an example of a short course: ‘Planning for Sustainability: Recycling and Waste in a Circular Economy’, Deakin University, https://www.deakin.edu.au/study/find-a-course/short-courses/stackable-short-courses/planning-for-sustainability-recycling-and-waste-in-a-circular-economy. For examples of research hubs and institutes: the Insitute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, https://www.uts.edu.au/research/centres/isf; the Circular Economy Labs, Monash University, https://www.monash.edu/msdi/initiatives/circular-economy-labs; the Crcular Economy Hub@RMIT, https://www.rmit.edu.au/research/our-research/enabling-impact-platforms/eip-networks/circular-economy-hub.
[13] Deakin University, ‘Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes’, 2024, https://www.deakin.edu.au/students/enrolment-and-fees/manage-your-course/handbooks/2025-handbook/deakin-graduate-learning-outcomes.
[14] DCCEEW, Australia’s Circular Economy Framework, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/australias-circular-economy-framework.pdf.
