Dr Nicole Garofano is an Australian leading expert in circular economy systems and sustainable materials management, recognised for her deep expertise in plastic waste and packaging value chains. She is currently the Head of Circular Economy Development at Planet Ark Environmental Foundation, where she works across industry, government, and research sectors to support the acceleration towards Australia’s transition to a circular economy. Nicole has over 20 years of experience in environmental education, waste management, international development, policy design, and circular economy. She holds a PhD from the University of Queensland focused on plastic packaging in island developing states. She has been a key voice in shaping national conversations on circular economy, and her work has advocated for systems-level change to improve design that embraces resource sufficiency and circular solutions.

S2E3 - What is Circular Economy w/ Nicole Garofano

This week on Infrastructure Connections we're talking to Veena Sahajwalla about micro recycling and the circular economy. The takeaways from this episode give us new ways to look at circularity:  

1. Companies are starting to re-think their identity. "We're not a waste company, we're a supply company." We supply resources as feedstock, resources that used to be waste for someone else.  

2. "If we zoom down to the micro recycling level, every material is important." If it was an important component of the original product, it will be important to recover for the next product.  

3. "Sustainability is a normal way to think. The more we can make it a norm, the more we can think of practical ways in which sustainability comes to life." 

4. We need to think of sustainability and recycling on a local level, specific to the local industries who need it, and make that recovery a priority. This is compared to the current method of sending our waste overseas and then buying it back as sources.   

Veena puts the re in resource.   

Veena is the Director of SMaRT Centre (Sustainable Materials Research & Technology) and Associate Dean (Strategic Industry Relations) faculty of Science, University of New South Wales.   

Her research interests include sustainability of materials and processes with emphasis on environmental benefits. She invented an environmentally friendly process for recycling plastics and rubber tyres in electric arc furnace steelmaking.   

She is an international award winning engineer. In 2012 she was named Overall Winner of the Australian Innovation Challenge Award. She was awarded the 2012 Banksia Award, the GE Eco Innovation Award and the 2005 Eureka Prize for Scientific Research.  

We hope you enjoy this episode. From now on we'll be releasing episodes on Thursdays fortnightly.   

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S2E2 - Circular Innovation w/ Veena Sahajwalla

Welcome back to Infrastructure Connections, the podcast where we explore what makes sustainable infrastructure work, brought to you by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council. I'm your host, Seth Scott. And hooray! We made it into Season 2. 

This season we're exploring Circularity and the role it plays in infrastructure. What better way to start off than by looking at the circularity metrics of steel, a product that is virtually 100% recyclable. Nearly half of all steel is used in the infrastructure and construction industry, things like bridge beams and reinforcing bars and mesh, and much of the rest is used on what uses infrastructure, the planes, trains and automobiles. So today we'll be talking about steel with Steve Porter of Infrabuild.   

Steve is Head of Sustainability, Innovation & Trade at InfraBuild Australia, Australia's largest integrated manufacturer and supplier of steel long products. He's spent most of his career as a General Manager in the steel industry, and he is committed to shaping a sustainable, low-carbon future in energy intensive environments.   

We discuss circularity initiatives in the steel industry, initiatives like the Electric Arc Furnace which allows phenomenal recycling of scrap metal using renewable energy. We also look at how Material Circularity Indicators (MCI) can enhance EPDs for customers.  

For even more information, InfraBuild collaborated on the ISC Impact Notes on the Circular Economy, which you can find here: https://www.iscouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Circular-Economy-Impact-Note_Final-for-Publication.pdf

S2E1 - Material Circularity Indicators w/ Steve Porter

Guest Speaker Dr Sina Cotter Tait discusses the practice of equity and culture in infrastructure. From her vantage point as Director for the Infrastructure Commission, we investigated the role these will play in the future pipeline of sustainable infrastructure.

Episode 6 - Equity and Culture w/ Dr Sina Cotter Tait

Guest Speaker Sam Donaldson, Hub Sustainability Leader at Laing O’Rourke discusses the practice of Nature Based Financial Disclosures as a practitioner who has seen this work in the field. We also zero in on the  implications it has for the future of sustainable infrastructure.

Episode 5 - Taskforce for Nature Based Financial Disclosure w/ Sam Donaldson

Host Seth Scott discusses with Guest Speakers Neelesh Rampal, Climate Data Scientist and Dr Peter Gibson, Climate Scientist both from NIWA on the role of data in New Zealand climate projections. We looked into their NIWA research on "High-resolution climate projects using physics and AI" and tackled its potential impacts on infrastructure.

How AI and physics create high-resolution climate projections

Host Seth Scott discusses with Guest Speaker, Kristy Graham, CEO of the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute about her views on sustainable finance and her involvement in the Australian Sustainable Finance Roadmap, its importance in infrastructure investment, and how it impacts sustainable infrastructure.

Episode 3: The Australian Sustainable Finance Institute

Host Seth Scott discusses with Guest Speaker, Anna Robak, WSP Canada's Executive Director, Research & Innovation about her view of the future of intelligent infrastructure. We also take a closer look into six criteria that infrastructure should meet to be considered truly intelligent.

Episode 2 - The Future of Intelligent Infrastructure w/ Anna Robak

Host Seth Scott discusses with Guest Speaker, Toby Kent, Infrastructure Sustainability Council's CEO about his view of the future of sustainable infrastructure and the role resilience plays in infrastructure based on his previous experience as Melbourne's Chief Resilience Officer.

Episode 1 - Season Opener w/ Toby Kent

A knowledge sharing podcast brought to you by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council.
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Infrastructure Connections

A knowledge sharing podcast brought to you by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council. 

Follow and join us on our next episodes!



Infrastructure Connections

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