Sustainable products: Building circular economy to last

Imagine a circle. Got it? Well, the circular economy is like that, but encompasses a whole host of ways to make your business more sustainable, transparent and durable. It can help you tap into a valuable network of like-minded businesses and form strong connections both inside and outside your industry.

Sound good? We thought so! That’s why we've teamed up with Planet Ark’s Australian Circular Economy Hub, or ACE Hub for short, to bring you three examples of circular innovation.

We'll be joined by three companies sharing their ‘products for good’ — highlighting their journey, hurdles, providing a crash course in circularity and sharing some wisdom on how to close the loop for a more sustainable future.

Takeaways

• Boost your professional value with the sustainable development goals

• Learn more about the end of lifecycle, waste management reusing the resources

• Make a difference and have a positive impact to regenerate your industry!

About the Speakers

Abigail Forsyth: Co-Founder & Managing Director, KeepCup

Abigail Forsyth is a leader in the global campaign to inspire reduce and re-use. As the co-founder and managing director of KeepCup, known worldwide for its bright, bold and instantly recognisable reusable cups, Abigail is passionate about improving the take-up of sustainable alternatives to disposable single use items.

KeepCup is the world’s first barista-standard reusable cup, used in cafes and coffee shops the world over. Since June 2009 over ten million KeepCup users have diverted billions of disposable cups from landfill. In this time approximately 5 trillion disposable cups have been made and discarded to landfill.

Aidan Mullan: Sustainability Manager, Interface Australia/New Zealand

In response to the Global Climate Emergency Aidan Mullan specialises in the commercialisation of Interface’s Climate Take Back initiatives in Australia and New Zealand, to run its business in a way that reverses the effects of global warming.

A Chemical Engineer with Lean skills, Aidan leads local innovations to reduce and eliminate hazardous substances from all processes, reduce embodied carbon and continue efficient contribution to the circular economy.

He uses Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) tools to evaluate raw material and manufacturing environmental impacts to assist the company in transitioning to more sustainable processes and products in order to achieve its goal of becoming carbon negative by 2040.

Roslyn Aikman: CFO, Yume

Ros is Yume’s Green Bean Counter (CFO) and a strategic finance manager (CPA qualified) with a wealth of project experience across; M&A transactions, cost reduction, system implementations and process improvement acquired internationally at blue chip multinationals BHP Billiton, Shell, Deloitte. Ros is an adaptable leader with astute financial acumen and a proven track record to connect beyond the finance function by partnering with stakeholders and leading teams through change and complexity. Since joining Yume in 2018 Ros has been able to use her extensive experience in the area that she is most passionate about, sustainability.