Past Events

Members of the research team have been involved in a variety of events during the course of the project. A number of past events are detailed below with links to presentations and further information.

2022

EcoBalance 2022 – The 15th Bienniel International Conference

Fukuoka, Japan – 30 October – 2 November 2022

Dr Monique Retamal of ISF-UTS presented research centred around Circular Business Models and plastics in India at the EcoBalance 2022 Conference.  This research is currently being undertaken as part of Policy and Behaviour Activity of the project.  The title of Monique’s presentation was “Circular Business Models for Plastics in India” and the abstract for the presentation is below.

Circular business models (CBMs) are expected to play an important role in the transition to a circular economy. CBMs are being investigated in the context of plastics in India as part of the India-Australia Industry and Research Collaboration for Reducing Plastic Waste. In this study, an interdisciplinary team has examined the international and Indian literature regarding circular business models and have investigated their uptake in India. The team have refined a circular business model typology based on the literature for application in the Indian context in relation to plastic supply chains. The four circular business model strategies that have been considered are: 1) substituting; 2) extending; 3) intensifying; and 4) cycling. In the first phase of the study, the team identified 55 businesses currently using a circular business model in relation to plastics in India. More than half of those identified were focused on recycling. Overall, the most common types of CBMs being used for plastics in India related to recycling and technology platforms to facilitate extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes and the substitution of plastic materials. The least common CBMs in the review of practice related to ‘intensifying’ (sharing models, rental/leasing/access models, user cooperatives, creative commons, pooling models).
Businesses employing circular strategies often face challenges in implementation and there are gaps in understanding which measures might facilitate greater uptake of CBMs. In the second phase of the project, the research team is interviewing a number of businesses using CBMs to discuss the challenges to employing a circular approach in India and to identify pathways to facilitate broader uptake of circular business models and practices. These interviews are being qualitatively analysed and the results will be presented at Ecobalance.

Monique’s presentation was part of the Doing more with less – Transitioning to circular economy through business model innovation session on Monday 31st October 2022.  For more information on the EcoBalance 2022 conference please use the following link – Ecobalance 2022 Conference

2021

India Week 2021 – hosted by the Australia India Institute (University of Melbourne)

A webinar hosted by members of the Reducing Plastic Waste in India research team will be held on 12th August, 2021 (10:30am IST/3:00pm AEST).  An overview of the webinar is presented below.

How India and Australia Tackle Plastic Waste

Plastics (polymers) are an ubiquitous material and are used for many applications because of the versatility of the material. Very often, however, plastics are ending up in landfill or worse – in our waterways and oceans. We are exploring the scale of the issue in India, and investigating solutions for reducing plastic waste through a circular economy, where today’s waste can become a resource for tomorrow.

Presenters – Souvik Bhattacharjya; Veena Sahajwalla; Zeenat Niazi; Heinz Schandl and Assa Doron

For more information and register for the webinar please use the following link – How India and Australia Tackle Plastic Waste – India Week 2021 – Registration.

For the full India Week 2021 program please use the following link – India Week 2021 – Australia India Institute