Helen O’Neil, Andrew Taylor, John Champagne and Dr Deborah O’Connell discuss the circular economy at Cobargo Folk Festival on 1 March. Photo: Marion Williams.
Several Bega Valley businesses and individuals are taking steps towards a more sustainable economy, one that uses fewer resources, and recycles and reuses to minimise waste.
They are part of the circular economy movement and are gravitating towards the National Circularity Centre.
Funded by a $14 million NSW Government grant and a $5 million cash contribution and the land by Bega Group, the Regional Circularity Co-operative (RCC) is building the centre in Bega over the next 18 months. It will be an education centre, tourist information and heritage centre with gift shop, cafe and restaurant, and a research and collaboration centre for circularity experts.
Bega Group chairman Barry Irvin wants the centre to bring Australia’s businesses, academia, community and government together to accelerate the transition to a circular economy and influence government policy.
Andrew Taylor, CEO of the RCC, joined Brogo permaculturist John Champagne and systems analyst Dr Deborah O’Connell, to discuss if the circular economy offers real hope for a sustainable future.
Bega Valley Shire Councillor Helen O’Neil hosted the discussion at the Cobargo Folk Festival on 1 March.
Mr Taylor said the centre wanted to bring people together to pilot and test circular economy concepts and share information.
“We want to harness what is already happening, bring attention to it, and help regulators and legislators know what the barriers are to circular economy businesses,” he said.
Local success stories include regenerative farmers Bega Valley Eggs, Ocean2Earth Australia which is shortening the supply chain by collecting local seafood and forestry waste to produce compost, and Frog Hollow Brewing. The brewery is working with the RCC to set up a collection system for its plastic ring packaging so it can be reused, not recycled.
“We start small, demonstrate it locally, and take it nationally,” Mr Taylor said.
Artist’s impression of the National Circularity Centre to be built in Bega over the next 18 months. Photo: Regional Circularity Co-operative.
The circularity centre itself uses circular building principles, materials and design.
“That will cost us more, but someone has to lead,” Mr Taylor said. “Government should lead this. They have the procurement power to build scale and bring costs down.”
He said people often said they wanted sustainability but were not prepared to pay for it. They did not always think about the nutritional value or the freight miles saved from locally produced foods. Doing things locally also created jobs.
Wallaga Lake resident Dr O’Connell, who worked for the CSIRO for 20 years, said there was confusion about the cost of things and the price of things.
“People don’t consider the cost of production to the environment whereas pricing is often set to maximise profits,” she said.
Mr Taylor said the market was changing and was beginning to value natural capital.
For example, banks such as Rabobank and National Australia Bank are considering cheaper loan rates for farmers doing the right thing.
Artist’s sketch of an aerial view of the National Circularity Centre to be built in Bega over the next 18 months. Photo: Regional Circularity Co-operative.
Mr Taylor said the Bega Valley Data Collective was talking about the wellbeing economy, which needed to be central in any economic transition.
The collective is working with the community to define what wellbeing means through its Living Well in the Bega Valley project so it can measure what matters.
Dr O’Connell said every new piece of legislation added a new level of complexity. It was stifling innovation.
Mr Taylor said the time it took to build the average house in Australia was three months longer than in 2019. “If it takes more time, it is costing more money, up to 40 per cent more than five years ago.”
He said Ocean2Earth battled for six years to prove that what it was trying to do was safe, while Tilba Tilba marine scientist Jo Lane struggled with NSW legislation for seven years in her pursuit of developing commercial kelp farming. She moved to South Australia “where initially they rolled out the red carpet for her in obtaining a marine lease”.
“That demonstrates some of the perversity of the regulations,” Mr Taylor said.
Mr Champagne’s approach has been to bypass regulation almost completely on his permaculture farm.
It is a closed loop system that produces everything his family needs without any inputs. “You multiply that a few times and you have a circular economy,” Mr Champagne said.
“When Sharon and I moved to Brogo, we were thinking about coming as consumers from the city, to producing everything in Brogo,” he said.
“Instead of protesting against the world we don’t want, as individuals we have the power to create the world we want.”
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