Round 1: The circular economy opportunity
At the heart of a circular economy is a design philosophy that eliminates waste, optimally uses materials, conserves natural resources, and regenerates natural systems. It is an economic system where products and services are engineered for durability, materials are perpetually recycled, and waste and emissions are reduced or eliminated.
Seizing the circular economy opportunity will not only help us to conserve valuable and limited natural resources, it promises a triple dividend of economic growth, employment, and waste reduction.
How might your innovative business model, technology, and/or resource ingenuity support India’s and Australia’s transition to a circular economy?
For the first round of RISE Accelerator, we called on Indian and Australian startups and SMEs with technologies and solutions that address one or several of the following challenge statements:
Round 1 challenge statements
1. Can you close the loop?
Technology and solutions that retain material inputs at their highest possible value, in production and consumption systems by, for example:
- innovative circular business models
- promoting B2B and/or B2C circularity across supply and value chains
- enabling circular consumption patterns
- collaborations on waste reduction, reuse, recycling
- product life extension.
2. Does your design eliminate waste and pollution?
Technology and solutions that extract, design and use energy materials, biological materials, and/or technical materials within a circular economy framework, for example:
- reimagined products, designs, and production processes that eliminate or minimise waste and pollution
- circular material replacements
- advanced material design, engineering and manufacturing
- digital and or data driven innovations that reduce inputs
- production processes and technologies that enable easier material reuse.
3. Can you build a circular economy mindset?
What transformative technology and solutions can help achieve a world where cities, buildings, transportation systems, food and energy provisions, clothing, health care, and education are all sculpted with a circular economy mindset? Innovations focussed on supporting transition at scale and system change will be required to achieve a successful transition to a circular economy.
4. What did we miss?
Is there any other technology and solutions embedded with the circular economy design philosophy, and/or that will measurably impact India’s and Australia’s transition to a circular economy?
