Southern Tasmania’s primary industries could create much greater value from materials currently regarded as waste, through better coordination and collaboration.
This is the main finding from Circular Economy Opportunities in Southern Tasmania’s Primary Industries, a new research report commissioned by regional waste organisation TasWaste South and produced by NRM South.
TasWaste South CEO Paul Jackson said the report found many primary industry businesses are keen to embrace circular economy opportunities, but this is undermined by the lack of a systematic approach.
“Tasmania’s primary industries make products that are fundamental to our state’s prosperity and identity. They also produce material streams that are increasingly being recognised as resources, such as organic residues, biomass or scrap metals,” Mr Jackson said.
“One of the clearest messages from the research is that there’s no lack of willingness to do the right thing. It’s that producers are working within the day-to-day demands of running their business and if recovery pathways are too expensive, inconvenient or uncertain then it’s understandable that some materials will instead become waste.”
NRM South’s consultation has provided many examples of farmers, growers, foresters and aquaculture operators already using practical circular economy approaches that make good business sense. This includes composting organic materials, using by-products as livestock feed and returning nutrients to soils, at a scale that is already critical to regional economic activity.
But barriers to investment and participation have also been identified, including a lack of clear information and limited visibility of material flows. Particularly for difficult-to-recover materials such as plastic, where fragmented recovery pathways, contamination, transport costs and limited processing capacity all impact recovery outcomes.
The report makes recommendations on practical, locally relevant guidance for producers and demonstration projects that test potential solutions under Tasmanian operating conditions.
Importantly, organic materials were found to present some of the strongest near-term circular economy opportunities. Many of these waste streams are already being reused through livestock feed, composting and land application, but there’s still potential for greater value within regional supply chains.
The research also found that despite their diversity, many primary industry businesses face the same barriers and would benefit from working together.
“Southern Tasmania already has strong industry networks and a growing enthusiasm for circular economy initiatives, but this remains uneven,” Mr Jackson said.
“By focusing on a staged regional response that includes coordination, improved material information, producer capability, practical pilots, recovery-system design and practical collaboration, we can build on primary industries’ successful resource recovery. This research provides an evidence base to help guide those conversations between industry, government and the waste and resource recovery sector.”
