The Holland Circular Hotspot Foundation (HCH) and the National Circular Economy Hub (NCEH), an initiative of Planet Ark Environmental Foundation, have entered a partnership to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy in Australia.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in the presence of Mr Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, the Honourable Lily D’Ambrosio, Minister for Energy, Environment, the Honourable Trevor Evans, Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management and the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp on Friday at an event co-hosted by the Victorian Government and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This event showcased the Netherland’s achievements in developing a circular economy and launched the partnership between Holland Circular Hotspot and Planet Ark.
“The Netherlands is a global leader in circular economy thinking and the Holland Circular Hotspot’s knowledge and expertise will be invaluable in the transformation to a circular economy in Australia,” said Paul Klymenko, Planet Ark CEO.
Under the agreement, the Holland Circular Hotspot will provide their experience, knowledge and expertise to Planet Ark with the aim of accelerating bilateral cooperation in the circular economy space. Planet Ark will promote dialogue and collaboration between Australian universities, businesses and governments to move Australia towards a circular economy.
“Our foundation aims to accelerate the transition to a circular economy around the world, which is why we are excited to engage with the National Circular Economy Hub to fast-track this movement in Australia,” said HCH director Freek van Eijk.
A circular economy is an alternative to the traditional linear economy which follows a ‘take, make, dispose’ model. The circular economy replaces this with a closed-loop system in which materials are used and reused as efficiently as possible, minimising resource use, pollution and carbon emissions.
European and Australian authorities agree that a new and circular model is needed: where resources are kept in use for as long as possible, have the maximum value extracted from them whilst in use, and are recovered and regenerated into new products at their end-of-life.
