Queensland Circular Economy (Industry-Research) Grants Information Session Slides by adminrcoe

Queensland Circular Economy (Industry-Research) Grants Information Session

20 March 2024

The First Nations Peoples of this land have walked in two worlds since the Dreamtime.

We recognise the ancient sovereignty of First Nations Peoples and welcome their deep understanding of natural balance and 60,000 year history of circular wisdom.

The First Nations people of the Greater Whitsunday Region include Ngaro, Gia, Juru, Jangga, Birriah, Yuwi, Koinjmal, Widi, Barada Kabalbara Yetimarala, Jangga, Barada Barna, Western Kangoulu and Wirdi.

Queensland Circular Economy (Industry-Research) Program

Greater Whitsunday Region - key delivery partners

As a key connector between industry and government, the RCOE, in partnership with circular economy specialists Coreo, is delivering the Queensland Circular Economy (Industry-Research) Program for the Greater Whitsunday Region behalf of the QLD Government.

Introduction to RCOE

The Resources Centre of Excellence sits between industry, research and government to fast-track innovation, training and new industry solutions for the Greater Whitsunday region and Queensland.

Our stage 1 facility in Paget, Mackay runs at almost full capacity, with our underground mine simulator providing training to hundreds of cleanskin miners.

Stage 2 of the RCOE - the Future Industries Hub - will be operational by 2025 and will feature a critical mineral pilot processing plant - a commercial common-user ﬂexilab - for mineral processing and testing.

Stage 3 of the RCOE - the Isaac Resources Excellence Precinct - will be based in Moranbah and the State Government has committed $40m to the build of this new facility.

Nice to meet you The Team

Boxall

CEO RCOE

Rainee Shepperson

Stakeholder Engagement & Project Delivery Oﬃcer RCOE

Operations Manager

RCOE

Cameron Kaufman Circularity Specialist Coreo Rebecca Schade Circularity Specialist Coreo Steven

Agenda

How the session will run

11.30 Welcome and introduction

11.40 Circular Economy

11:55 Greater Whitsunday Region context

12:00 Intro to Circular Economy (Industry-Research) Innovation Grants

12:10 Collaboration resources

12:15 Q&A session

12:30 Close

Overview

Queensland Circular Economy (Industry-Research)

Innovation Program

We will take a deeper dive into the Grants after an overview of circular economy and GW region

Supports Queensland and its goal of being a zero-waste society by 2050, using the framework of a circular economy.

The Grant aims to bolster industry to facilitate the shift from the conventional linear take-make-waste model towards a less wasteful circular economy approach.

Grants available for an industry-driven research and innovation project to achieve a more sustainable circular economy model

https://www.rcoe.com.au/circular-economy-grant

Circular Economy

What is it (really)?

If the timeline of the planet's history was condensed into 1 year

We’ve been around for 37 minutes

depleted 1/3 of our planet in 0.2 seconds

This resource depletion has left us with a growing legacy of negative impacts, with humanity facing crises such as climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, etc.

We need to transition

from a linear to a circular economy

Regenerate

Eliminate

Circulate

TAKE MAKE WASTE

Value to be realised in circular economy

Circular economy can address

45% of global greenhouse gas emissions

Circular economy can unlock value of

92% of raw materials that are wasted after a single use

Circular economy would generate

AUD $1.9 TRILLION in economic beneﬁts

Adopting circular solutions could fulﬁll people’s needs with just

70% of the materials we currently use - within the safe limits of the planet

Circular economy has the potential to reduce the annual volume of plastics entering our oceans byf

80% by 2040

Circular economy can reduce the

90% biodiversity loss associated with extraction and processing of natural resources

from building materials by

38% in 2050

Value of circularity to Queensland & GWR

A signiﬁcant opportunity for Queensland

Support the achievement of government programs

Promote local and technological innovation, stimulate new industries for job creation and growth.

Position Queensland as a global leader in resource stewardship, opening doors to new trade partnerships and investments, enhancing our competitiveness on the international stage. Waste minimisation, cost savings, resource eﬃciency and gains.

Long term environmental, social, and economic resilience.

$1,860 billion in direct economic beneﬁts over twenty years and save 165 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2040 (PWC, Building a more circular Australia)

The Circular Mindset Shift

But this is tricky when we have only known a linear model

The Three Principles

we follow three principles, driven by design

1 Eliminate waste & pollution

Circulate products and resources (at their highest value for longer)

2 3 1

Regenerate natural & social systems

Eliminate waste & pollution

Apeel is a company that has come up with an innovative way to eliminate single-use plastic packaging on fresh fruit and veg, while at the same time tackling food waste.

Apeel is a layer of edible, plant-based coating applied to fresh products that mimics and enhances the natural defences of fruit and vegetables.

This slows down the two main things that cause spoilage – water loss and oxidation.

How it works

● Apeel Sciences use the building blocks that exist in the peels, seeds, and pulp of all fruits and vegetables called lipids and glycerolipids. These natural substances keep moisture inside the food and keep oxygen out.

● Apeel is distributed to partners as a powder and mixed up with water at packaging centres. It can be applied by spray, dip, or brush on methods. The fruit is coated until wet and then left to dry.

Circulate products & resources

(at their highest value for longer)

Tata Steel (India) - Industrial by-products management division (IBMD)

● The IBMD handles a variety of by-products and scrap in the entire value chain of the steel company- 14 MTPA of by-products spanning across 20+ product categories

● The product portfolio consists of steel by-products serving as key raw materials to various industries such as an LD slag product, granulated pig iron etc.

● Proﬁt centre: IBMD extracts value out of by-products, generated in the entire value chain of the steel company, starting from raw materials right up to ﬁnished products.

2

3 Regenerate Natural systems

From a QLD Gov backed pilot project, Coreo curated a trial to direct the natural ﬁbres in the 800,000 tonnes of textile waste generated in Australia each year back into soils.

The Result?

Lab trial

1 box of cotton oﬀcuts

In-ﬁeld trial

3 tonnes returned to soil

Scale-up 20 tonnes on 2 farms in QLD & NSW

THE OUTCOME

A scalable, closed loop, solution to textile waste that returns 100% cotton at end of life to the farm improving soil health and eliminating waste.

SOIL SCIENTIST

FINDINGS TO DATE

Increase in soil microbial activity, which may have other positive eﬀects on the soil in terms of structural stability and mineral cycling.

We use a suite of tools to take action

MATERIALS FRAMEWORK

BUSINESS MODELS

METRICS

TECHNOLOGY

Renewables

Business Models

Design, Innovation, & Partnerships

Resource Eﬃcient

Supply Chain

Procure renewable and recovered resources and ensure they stay in use.

Resource Recovery Sharing Platforms

Leverage technology to recover, renew and upcycle resource outputs.

Increase utilisation of existing products and assets

Product Life Extension Product As A Service

Extend the life cycle of products through design, repair, upgrade, remanufacture, and remarketing.

Customers use products through a pay-for-use arrangement versus the conventional approach to ownership.

Circular Design Principles

Always ﬁrst ask yourself - Do we need it?

Material Intensity Use less (volumes and types)

Material Choice Sustainably sourced renewable or recovered materials with low embodied impacts*

Cyclability To be made to be made again in part or whole

Inputs Renewable energy and fuels, low water inputs & water circulation

Non-Toxicity Zero inputs or outputs that cause harm to human or environmental health.

Versatility Adaptable, modular. and multifunctional

Durability Designed to last (either a complete asset/components)

New Models

Product vs service, consumer incentives

Transparent Supply Chains No modern slavery

Value Design for life (people and planet), access and inclusion

Is it durable?

Toxic?

Do we really need it?

Where does it go after use?

Greater Whitsunday Regional Context

Mine

Key material ﬂows: tailings, plastics, tyres

Livestock

Key material ﬂows: Manure, spoilt sillage, mill run, boiler ash

Sugar mill

Key material ﬂows: Bagasse, ﬁlter cake, molasses, ash, euent

Steel fabricator

Key material ﬂows: Scrap metal, metal shavings, scale and slag, coolants

Energy generation

Key material ﬂows: Ash, sludge, waste oil, spent catalysts

Solar panel installers

Key material ﬂows: Panels, mounting hardware, e-waste

Equipment manufacturing

Key material ﬂows: Metal scraps and ocuts, waste oil, lubricants, e-waste

Prawn farm

Key material ﬂows: Brine, biomass, excess feed, chemical residues

TAFE Queensland

Key skills and expertise: Agricultural Centre of Excellence, Research, Training

Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists

Key skills and expertise: Sugar cane technology, industry network

Resource Industry Network

Key skills and expertise: Capacity building, industry network

What could a circular economy look like in the GWR?

COAL MINE

COAL MINE COAL MINE REEs, chemicals, euent

COAL PLANT

Sludge (for organic maer and nutrients), bagasse (for silica), and ﬂy ash (for alkalinity) as tailings amendment

WATER TREATMENT PLANT

Co-located facility for tailings sampling, characterisation, separation, and by-product commercialisation

COAL MINE

SUGAR REFINERY

Topsoil

Biomass

Fertiliser Bagasse, ﬁlter cake

COMPOST& BIOCHAR FACILITY

What are GWR businesses saying?

Mining Challenges

● Tyres are a challenge for all miners, with complex collection and shredding required for tyre recovery. The Bowen Basin is in the top three OTR generating regions in Australia, with 11% of total generation.

● Signiﬁcant volumes of waste arising from premature end of life (tyres only achieve 30% of expected life due to sharp rocks!)

● Distance and transport costs are cited by all stakeholders surveyed as a challenge to circularity, which could be overcome through collaboration.

Opportunities

● Materials from diﬀerent industries in the region could be combined to make a natural and beneﬁcial soil additive (such as bagasse, tailings, and slag).

● Tyre Stewardship Australia’s report highlights two key recovery opportunities for OTR tyres; industrial fuel and building materials (roads and ﬂooring) but

● Signiﬁcant opportunities to design out waste from sites through procurement and supply contracts for packaging such as closed loop pallets and IBCs.

● Partnerships with aligned existing and suppliers such as PIPA for pipe remanufacturing and Ecycle for e-waste

● Implementation of onsite repurposing such as concrete into bollards using moulds.

What are GWR businesses saying?

Agriculture

Challenges

● Limited recycling options are available for agricultural plastics, with some larger operations sending materials like irrigation pipe to Brisbane for recycling.

● Contamination of plastics with dirt and vegetative matter is an issue, complicating processing and increasing transport costs.

● Logistical challenges with aggregating and collecting waste, especially for regional area which have limited transport and pickup options.

Opportunities

● Examples of successful bioindustries in the region, such as sugar cane production for biomass-to-electricity generation and rum production.

● Emerging opportunities surrounding Tassal’s prawn farm and opportunities surrounding aquaculture

● Future avenues to value-add existing products (and waste products) could allow existing producers to expand such as using tomato waste in nutraceuticals.

● Increasing amount of collaboration, for example the Gumlu Growers Association is investigating closed-loop recycling for plastic types, such as pipe and twine.

What are GWR businesses saying?

Tourism Challenges

● Housing crisis aﬀecting tourism more acutely than other industries - for tourism, the lack of staﬀ is impacting visitor experience

● Long-term protection of the region’s ecosystems with respect to the sustainability of the tourism industry

Opportunities

● There are variety of opportunities to expand land-side tourism product, disperse visitors more broadly across the region and increase length of stay and visitor yield (such as inland ecotourism)

● Opportunities to collaborate on reef protection

● Opportunities to supplement construction market with alternative building products

● More opportunity for local sourcing and collaboration with local suppliers

● Agritourism is a growing market in the region and requires investment to support for growers, GWFN growers and local makers to initiate experiences

The Queensland Circular Economy (Industry-Research) Grant Program

About the Grant

Grants provided by Qld Government (DESI) and delivered by RCOE

● Funding is up to $50,000 (excl GST)

● Development of innovative solution, product or service, process or technology using circular economy principles

● Address challenges in the Greater Whitsunday Region

● 9 month period to carry out project with grant funds

● Promote collaborative eﬀorts

A key document is the Grant Guidelines which are available for download on the RCOE Grants webpage

IN SCOPE

● Circulation of materials at their highest value for as long as possible

● Designing out waste of products and materials to reduce or avoid going to landﬁll

OUT OF SCOPE

● Water and energy-only projects

● Primarily “end-of-pipe” projects e.g. waste to energy, waste to biochar (unless regeneration project)

Applying for the Grant

Who should apply?

● Innovator, inventor, entrepreneur or change-makers in an existing business, a new venture, a sole-trader, or a researcher.

● Based in the Greater Whitsunday region

● You have identiﬁed a circular economy concept or idea that you are passionate about and are ready to develop, test, and/or validate with collaborators.

● You don’t have to be an existing business but will need an Australian Business Number (ABN) to receive funding

Innovation & Collaboration

What are the grants seeking to fund?

● Program supports new processes, business models, or technologies

● It does not support continuations of existing activities without signiﬁcant innovation (though you can collaborate with a lead applicant to supply them goods or services)

● Each application must have at least one collaborative partnership (partner or participant)

● Evidence of support from collaborators uploaded as part of application

Funding Requirements

What are the funding boundaries?

● Co-contributions - for every $5 provided by Grant, $1 contributed by the project team (cash or in-kind)

● CAN be funded - circular economy projects or ventures, trialling, prototyping, proof of concept, re-commercialisation or commercialisation, info sharing and comms for the project.

● CANNOT be funded - see list in the Grant Guidelines.

Primarily waste to energy projects and waste to biochar are not in-scope, or projects solving water or energy waste minimisation (though these can be secondary positive outcomes).