Women lead the way in circular economy innovation
- Circular economy
- Funding
September 19, 2024
Green Industries SA’s Women in Circular Economy Leadership Scholarship and the Circular Economy Student Awards for 2023–24 were presented by Deputy Premier and Minister for Climate, Environment and Water Dr Susan Close on Friday afternoon.
Women in Circular Economy Leadership Scholarships were presented to Dr Kate Sansome and Dr Meena Yadav, and Circular Economy Student Awards were presented to Holly Cooke and Dr Trang Thi Thu Nguyen.
The Women in Circular Economy Leadership Scholarship recognises women who are emerging or established leaders working in the area of circular economy innovation, including waste and resource recovery and remanufacturing, and allows them to pursue an investigative project of a kind that is not readily available in South Australia.
The Circular Economy Student Award supports circular capacity building in South Australia, and recognises the innovative thinking and research around the circular economy for South Australian honours and postgraduate students who are able to develop realistic solutions for accelerating the state’s transition to a circular economy.
About the winners
Dr Kate Sansome | Women in Circular Economy Leadership Scholarship
There are prominent waste issues present within the clothing and textiles sector in Australia. To make significant change on these issues, there is a need to facilitate awareness and behaviour change among the general public.
Dr Sansome’s project will undertake research to understand the longevity of clothing kept in personal wardrobes, current citizen behaviours relating to circular textiles and receptivity to circular business models for clothing (such as leasing, reuse and so on) to propose avenues for education and behaviour change for South Australians to reduce textile waste and increase citizen participation in circular textile initiatives.
GISA A/Chief Executive Josh Wheeler, Women in Circular Economy Leadership Scholarship winner Dr Kate Sansome, and Deputy Premier Dr Susan Close.
Dr Meena Yadav | Women in Circular Economy Leadership Scholarship
Dr Yadav’s project will explore innovative circular solutions for membranes used in the water industry, addressing key challenges and opportunities in resource management and sustainability.
By leveraging national and international expertise, the project aims to develop actionable insights and recommendations to advance circular economy practices.
GISA A/Chief Executive Josh Wheeler, Women in Circular Economy Leadership Scholarship winner Dr Meena Yadav, and Deputy Premier Dr Susan Close.
Holly Cooke, University of Adelaide – Honours | Circular Economy Student Award
Ms Cooke’s research developed a ‘material flow pathways” blueprint for resource characterisation of mine tailings deposits to enable metal extraction from mine tailings deposits.
She also sampled Prominent Hill tailings to inform geometallurgical reprocessing pathways for tailings metal extraction, with her work revealing that tilings copper chemistries are altered in a manner undetectable to the mining company’s current testing processes.
This research collectively enables a scientific data-driven assessment of the value of Prominent Hill’s 112 million tonnes of tailings material, including copper, rare earth elements, cobalt, gold, molybdenum and silver.
GISA A/Chief Executive Josh Wheeler and Circular Economy Student Award winner Holly Cooke.
Dr Trang Thi Thu Nguyen, University of Adelaide – PhD | Circular Economy Student Award
This PhD thesis explores household food waste behaviours, focusing on the generation and disposal of food waste.
It investigates the drivers of food waste disposal behaviours, motivations behind food waste prevention behaviours, and the variability in household waste behaviours.
The research identifies the existence of three distinct household segments ('Warriors', 'Strugglers' and 'Slackers') with unique behaviours and motivations, and offers insights for developing targeted interventions to reduce household food waste.
Dr Nguyen’s research featured in War on Waste Season3, Episode 2.
GISA A/Chief Executive Josh Wheeler, Circular Economy Student Award winner Dr Trang Thi Thu Nguyen, and Deputy Premier Dr Susan Close.
