about Circular360

What is Circular360?

The Global Centre of Excellence in Circular Economy is a Not-for-Profit organisation registered in Australia. The Centre is led by a highly-skilled international board, a lean and experienced management structure, and an international advisory team to ensure that our partner funding delivers exceptional programs with the most impact possible.

While the circular economy encompasses every aspect of human activity on the planet, the Centre of Excellence aims to concentrate its efforts into 12 priority areas.

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We work closely with our foundation partner, Green Industries South Australia – a government agency that is internationally recognised for its work in improving resource efficiency and business productivity to help South Australians to reduce their consumption, waste and costs.

Circular360 also contributes to and works in partnership with the UNCRD Adelaide Declaration on the Circular Economy.

Why does Circular360 exist?

The global circularity gap is widening. According to the 2020 Circularity Gap Report:

0 %

of the global economy was circular two years ago

0 %

is circular today; we are going in the wrong direction

We are facing a crisis; billions of dollars of materials are going to waste in electronics, plastics, food and clothing alone.

Conducting “business as usual” is no longer an option – transitioning to the circular economy is a matter of necessity. A circular economy not only addresses the volume of waste created; it creates material to reuse at the point of production.

Creating a truly circular economy will enable future resource security, protect the environment and create a tremendous financial opportunity, as expressed in the 2020 Circularity Gap Report.

The circular economy is still in its infancy globally. To create an impact at the scale that is needed to change our fundamental economic model, we need active collaboration between government, large business, research and education with a strong emphasis on delivering tangible projects.

Vision

To be a leading global centre that focusses on high impact practical solutions that contribute towards a sustainable society that works within the finite resources and carrying capacity of our planet.

Approach

Our approach to accelerating the adoption of the Circular Economy principles worldwide is to build a robust collaborative platform that brings together and leverages the collective intellectual and financial capital to drive circular economy programs of significant scale, impact and visibility.

Philosophy

Our work is underpinned by our core philosophy that in order to deliver holistic, preventative and long-term solutions, we need an ecosystem that involves multiple stakeholders covering policy, enforcement, technology, education, economics, and innovation.

Mission

Circular360 promotes understanding and adoption of the Circular Economy principles by:

  • linking stakeholders worldwide, providing thought leadership and educational resources to build capacity.
  • supporting circular economy implementation through advancement and integration of public policy and business strategies.
  • supporting high impact projects at scale through advocacy and funding.
  • promoting and advancing systems thinking and innovation.
  • advancing circular economy analytics, theory and science.

We believe that for things to change, both a top-down and bottom-up approach is needed. The human element is crucial for success and for that the circular economy has to come out of conferences, classrooms and boardrooms to the wider community. For the community to adopt a circular economy, it will need to be demystified and made real and relevant.

Hemant Chaudhary

Centre Director, Circular360