November was a busy month for the Hunter JO’s Circular Economy team, with many opportunities to showcase the work that their Member Councils and the Hunter JO have been delivering.

In November, the Hunter JO Regional Policy and Programs Manager, Tim Askew, was featured as keynote speaker at the International Conference on Assessing Waste and Recycle – AWARE 2022. The AWARE Conference brought together a multidisciplinary group of scientists and engineers from all over the world to present latest findings and to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and ideas.

Tim’s presentation at the AWARE conference focused on the role of Local Government in the circular economy, how this has been implemented through the Hunter Circular program and how the Circular Economy Roadmap has helped to deliver on this for our region.

Being able to present on the Hunter’s achievements in the circular economy space to an esteemed scientific audience was a great opportunity to raise the profile of the Member Councils and the value that local government can bring. Tim’s talk was well received with several contacts made with key people in the circular economy field.

Eloise Lobsey, the Hunter JO Regional Policy and Programs Coordinator (Circular Economy) presented during a panel discussion on creating local circular economies at Circularity 2022. Circularity is Planet Ark’s Australian Circular Economy Hub (ACEHUB) new dedicated circular economy conference held over two days in Sydney.

Eloise was joined on the panel by Debbie O’Byrne from BECA, Justin Bonsey from the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, Thomas Michel from City of Newcastle, and Les Stokes from City of Ballarat. The panel focused on unpacking circular economy at the local level, from waste to economic development, with a focus on the need for radical collaboration and leadership to develop local circular solutions.

To find out more about the Hunter JO’s circular economy program, head to their website today!