In mid-August, MS2’s Russ Martin, in his role as CEO of the Global Product Stewardship Council (GlobalPSC) tabled a concept paper on regulatory reforms for improved circular economy and climate action in the land and primary industry sectors using biochar during a NSW Parliamentary inquiry into beneficial and productive post-mining land use (Terms of Reference here).
Russ provided testimony before the inquiry, along with Craig Bagnall and Scott Fairbairn of negative-emissions technology providers SEATA Group and Anthony Reid of our Catalyst Environmental Management. The far-ranging testimony covered stewardship and circular economy, pyrolysis and gasification technologies, need for regulatory reforms, sustainable use of biomass feedstocks and how the production and use of biochar can help rehabilitate degraded lands and create circular carbon systems.
As part of his testimony, Russ tabled a concept paper on potential regulatory reforms for improved circular economy and climate action in the land and primary industries sectors using biochar. Key concepts include:
- Create circular economies that facilitate regeneration of nature (one of the three critical pillars of circular economy).
- Seek outcomes-based regulatory approaches over prescriptive ones, and proportionate risk-based regulation that reflects the scale, type and actual risk of activities, and which considers potential improvement over current management practices.
- Create circular economies that value feedstocks (resources) over ‘wastes’ – Adopt the principles of ‘End of Waste Codes’ and related guidelines/standards to define when a ‘waste’ becomes a resource.
The concept paper is available to GlobalPSC members before it is made publicly available.