A circular economy prioritises resource conservation and efficiency to capture the greatest value from traditionally discarded materials. In addition, a circular economy reduces pollution, litter, and waste.

A more circular stewardship approach (creating an Australian Plastics Circular Economy) to plastic materials and products will help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Australian National Plastics recycling targets.

A strong, sustainable Australian chemicals and plastics sector, domestic manufacturing sector, recovery and recycling sectors, and industry-focused research are critical to realising a circular economy.

Globally competitively priced gas and electricity are essential for Australia to recover from the economic cost of COVID-19, support those Australians whose livelihoods have been impacted, and get people back to work.

Affordable and globally competitive gas and electricity are also vital elements in strengthening Australia’s sovereign capability and for the continued viability of Australian manufacturing and many other industries.

Yet, the high cost and unreliable supply of gas and electricity have damaged Australian industry, commerce, and households. Australia’s energy market and the supply of globally competitive long-term gas feedstock contracts were once the envy of the world and formed the basis of vast investment in Australia.

Much more needs to be done to protect consumers from escalating energy prices and attract capital investment for gas-based and other manufacturing. Chemistry Australia reiterates the principles of the National Energy Objectives, where investment is focused on benefits for consumers.

The opportunity to transform our energy supply from hydrocarbons to renewable sources, including hydrogen and bio-based fuels, is real. However, this transition will be neither speedy nor straightforward. The transition requires planning and investment, including establishing standards and appropriate regulation. While policy needs to support this transition, it must also recognise that no single technology will provide an economy-wide solution. Therefore, policy frameworks must support and incentivise the adoption of a variety of fit-for-purpose technologies and solutions.

The expansion of global trade and supply chains has enabled the world economy to expand over many decades, improving living standards as more people have shared in the prosperity this growth has delivered.

However, this shift in trade has had a significant impact on Australian manufacturing.

It has struggled to remain globally competitive against manufacturing in lower-cost jurisdictions operating with economies of scale focused on supplying global markets. Importantly, chemistry and other value-chains are highly inter-connected and inter- dependent. Losing one component, ingredient or capability can curtail, stop or cease the supply of some finished goods.

At the same time, modern business structures and disciplines, aided by the growth of sophisticated enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms, have focused on supply chain efficiency, resulting in a delicate balance between supply and demand across many sectors.

COVID-19 has demonstrated that existing global supply chains cannot cope with simultaneous increases in demand across all regions of the globe. It has also shown that critical parts of those supply chains are vulnerable to disruption as governments seek to ensure the availability of essential goods or the interruption of global transport infrastructure and networks.

No country would be able to supply all the goods and services needed to maintain a modern society or economy. Global trade will always be critical to the supply of goods and services. This is particularly true for Australia, which represents less than 1 per cent of international trade.

Nevertheless, Australia needs to strengthen its sovereign capability to maintain the supply of vital goods and services when global supply chains are interrupted.

The challenge of climate change cannot be addressed by a single policy, technical solution, industry, or government. A combination of technology, market-based and policy solutions will be needed to reduce GHG emissions and achieve climate neutrality.

The role of government is to provide the competitive policy framework and certainty to facilitate investment by industry and support informed consumer choices that will drive GHG emissions reduction across the economy.

Australia’s climate change policy must be part of globally coordinated action to reduce emissions and mitigate the impact of climate change. However, it should also strike the right balance between meeting our Paris Agreement commitments and ensuring continued industry investment and jobs growth to underpin our sovereign capability.

Action on climate change should play a key role in Australia’s recovery from the economic cost of COVID-19, getting people back to work and positioning Australia for a climate- neutral future.

The chemistry industry is committed to enabling further significant GHG emissions reduction through changes to its own processes and product innovations that deliver emissions reduction by other industries and consumers.¹

The key to ensuring that Australia’s chemistry industry shares in this transformation is implementing policies and measures that keep Australian industry internationally competitive. If Australian industry is not competitive, this investment will be made in other economies.

^{1 Enabling the future - chemistry innovations for a low carbon society, ICCA, 2019}