Waste away – the future of garbage: EPA's 2018 National Science Week Panel

EPA is celebrating National Science Week by hosting its third annual panel event. This year’s topic is Waste away – the future of garbage.

Waste has been a hot topic for Australia and Victoria over the last 18 months. Public debate has surrounded:

• How we can reduce our waste at home
• How business can assist in reducing waste, which has led to a plastic bag ban in Victoria and many bars banning plastic straws
• Waste stockpiling in Victoria
• China banning recycling imports
• How we can repurpose waste, such as waste to energy plants or using waste to make roads.

EPA has gathered together a panel of experts to discuss the future of waste. This is a unique opportunity to hear from our panel and to ask questions about waste opportunities and technologies. Is it truly waste or is it a resource? How can science be used to solve Australia’s waste problem?

The panel discussion will be directed by the questions posed by the audience, both live and web-stream.

Register now to join the web-stream for this lively debate!

Want to join the live audience at the Melbourne Museum? Click here to register for the live audience!

Our panel includes:

Ruby Chan
Inventor of ‘Moducware’

Ruby Chan is a designer and innovator with a passion for sustainable practises.

Building on her Industrial Design background, in 2016 Ruby completed a Master’s in Design Innovation and Technology. She received a Vice-Chancellor’s List Award for Academic Excellence for finishing in the top 2% of all higher education students in the university.

Ruby is conscious of how society’s throwaway culture and trend of mass-consumption affects the environment.

In 2017 Ruby won the Green Innovators Award at the National Sustainable Living Festival (SLF) for her patented, plant-based innovation Moducware™ - a compostable alternative to regular plastic takeaway containers. She is working to commercialise Moducware™.

Mark Glover
Director and CEO of Renewable Carbon

After 15 years in the commercial construction industry, founding and operating contracting businesses, Mark founded EcoWaste Pty Ltd in 1988, a specialist sustainable resource use consultancy, which is still very active today advising on Circular Economy issues

However, whilst researching actual secondary resource recovery issues and opportunities for various industry sectors Mark has had a number of opportunities to reapply the “get it built” skills from the early years. Most recently Mark founded Renewed Carbon Pty Ltd (2002) which is now developing and constructing facilities across Australia for high value “bio” product manufacture, from sustainably sourced Biomass, projects that are in the vanguard of the emerging “bio economy”.

Barry Sullivan
Business Development Manager, Renewables Downer Utilities Australia

Barry Sullivan has held Senior, Executive roles in Telecommunications, Aerospace and Waste Coversion Technology Companies for the past three decades.

Since moving from Canada to Australia Barry has been focused on understanding the Australian market and how various Waste to Energy Technologies best fit into the Australian Waste Management Hierarchy. Barry was responsible for the analysis of the Waste to Energy Technologies for Downer in the Australia and New Zealand markets.

Barry was named as one of the “50 Ultimate Green Leaders (Globally) by the Corporate Social Responsibility Group of the United Nations for 2018 and is the Chairman of the Australian Waste to Energy Forum.

Dr Trevor Thornton
Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University

Dr Thornton is currently employed as a lecturer at Deakin University and also consults widely in a broad range of sectors on processes to develop and implement programs to reduce environmental impacts of waste generation and management. Trevor has over 30 years’ experience in the waste management industry in both the regulatory and consultancy aspects of this industry sector – In Australia and Internationally. Projects have included the conduct of environmental and waste audits in a broad range of industry sectors and for specific types. These projects have included all aspects of management from consulting with all relevant stakeholders, formulation of a project plan, data collection, report preparation and where necessary implementation of strategies to improve environmental performance.

The event will be led by MC Dr Anthony Boxshall, formerly of EPA, Principal & Founder of Science into Action and long-term 3RRR radio talking head.