October 3, 2024 • 10 mins
The Bega Valley is set to become the poster child for a Circular Economy, with a next-level $19mill centre to educate and attract tourists, and yes - there's a cool cafe included!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I ah Fast South Coast. I think this project, the
circularity project we're running here and the center that we
will build will actually just create an enormous amount of
opportunity for the region. But I always say, look, it's
great that the region's famous for Bega cheese, and it's
great that it's famous for its beautiful beaches and it's
wonderful oisters, but we also want to make it famous
for its environmental footprint, for its sustainability.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Get a. I'm James fantasy. And in this day and
age of doing our best to embrace less of the
disposable stuff and more of the pre loved stuff, most
of us are doing what we can to be more
conscious of our own footprint on planet Earth. What goes
around should come back around, right Well, the Bigger Valley
is about to become the poster child for the concept
(00:45):
of circularity. Circular what you say, Well, by the year
twenty thirty, the Bigger Valley hopes to be Australia's most
circular economy. That means, as a region will be the
best at repurposing resources in different ways forms so that
we're needing fewer materials, thus closing the loop in the
consumption chain. The project is called the Regional Circular Cooperative
(01:09):
and the idea is being driven by a pretty big
cheese in our business community, Barry Irvin, the chairman of
the Bigger Group formerly known as Biger Cheese. It's not
just a project, it's a passion for Barry. He says,
where miles behind Europe, places like the Netherlands are aiming
to be a fully circular economy as a whole country,
(01:29):
rather than just focusing on a figure for net emissions.
But we have to start somewhere. Over the next few years,
we'll be watching a nineteen million dollar National Center for
Circularity be built on Lagoon Street in North Beger, next
door to Bigger Cheese, with the center becoming a centerpiece
for tourism and education. Barry Irvin says the center represents
(01:50):
the essence of what circularity is and it's important all
the key players of the local economy are on board for.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
The variety of industry works together, from forestry right through
to the to the dairy and bee farmers, to the horticulturalists,
to the people that manage the estory and out of
the fisheries. This brings us all together, along with the
local in digit's community along with the entire community, to
actually tell the story of the bigger valley, tell the
story of how food's produced, how timber is produced, and
(02:19):
indeed how it's produced sustainably. And so I think we
will have a different approach, in different thinking, and the
Circularity Center will be a lighthouse for that thinking. And
it will also be I think, a place that will
be visited by many, whether they're academics or tourists or
people from around the country, around the world to see
how you actually embed in a community in a project
(02:42):
where everybody has input but also has benefit.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
And for the regular Joe blowout there. What does circularity mean?
What does it all mean?
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Well, I think so, I think I would put it
this way simply, so we tend to think about environmental
projects in isolation or in silos, so people will talk
about emissions, or they'll talk about biodiversity, or they'll talk
about packaging. Circularity is actually about thinking about the entire
life cycle of the resources that you use. So in short,
(03:14):
if you think about a product that's been made traditionally,
you know, we would take a resource, we would turn
it into a product, we would sell that product and
we would not think very much about it beyond that point,
so we wouldn't think about how it was disposed, what
the impacts might be. Under a circularity system, you actually
think about the end of life at the very beginning,
so you ideally use renewable resources. Where you can't use
(03:35):
renewable resources, you think about how long you can keep
those resources in use at the highest value in the economy,
so you literally get maximum value out of that, and
then you think about what happens to it at the
end of life and how to be disposed. So it
is a different way of thinking. It is a relatively
simple way of thinking and a subtle change, but it
(03:55):
has a great outcome, both from an environmental point of view,
an economic point of view, and ultimately a social point
of view as well.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Okay, so that's the definitive explanation of what circularity is.
Thank you, mister Irvan. And the Bigger Group is putting
its money where its mission is, contributing five million dollars
to the project, with the new South Wales government kicking
in the rest. And there's some heavy hitters at the
table adding their expertise like Rabobank, KPMG, Deloitte, Charles Sturt
(04:24):
UNI and the University of Wollongong Stay whether it's next
to the man in charge of the show, Andrew Taylor
from the Regional Circularity Cooperative, turning the vision into an
everyday reality.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I art Far South Coast.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I Art Far South Coast. Hi there, I'm James Fantasy.
Time to drill down a little deeper into what it
actually means for the Bigger Valley in the transition to
a circular economy. The valley is already punching well above
its waves in terms of sustainable with many examples like
Ocean to Earth taking aquaculture and forestry waste and turning
(05:06):
it into high value fertilizer, or the Biger Repair Cafe
which is focused on fixing white goods rather than dumping
into landfill. So let's bring in Andrew Taylor, who's going
to be running the Regional Circular Cooperative and has had
a big say in what the center will offer. The
building itself will sit on Lagoon Street in North Bega
(05:26):
and the Cox architecture design is absolutely next level in
terms of sustainable architecture. The building design is meant to
reflect ideas and metaphors that give people the opportunity to
learn and apply a circular economy to everyday life. And
Andrew can't wait to work there.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
So shamelessly named National Circularity Center. When you talk to
our friends in Canberra, they hesitate and go, what in Biger.
But that's the vision of Barry Ivan. You know, why
not build the National Circularity Center in Biger that can
really showcase not just what we're doing in transition to
circular economy, but what our neighbors are doing, what our
forebears have done, and also what's happening on the other
(06:06):
side of the world. So the National Circularity Center, many
people know the Beech's Heritage Center, so that will be
transitioned into the National Circularity Center. But predominantly it's going
to be an education demonstration piece. Is going to have
a provad or cafe restaurant. It's going to have museum
style information where you might look at what's happened in
(06:26):
the past, present, and what will happen in the future.
It'll have a significant digital experience so people will be
able to The idea is that we would censorize the
valley so we would get, you know, in real time
understanding what's happening in sustainability or circularity across the valley
and then put that into a digital twin which I
had to google about two years ago. But that's where
(06:48):
you get a digital representation of what's happening in real time,
and that becomes a really good education piece for students.
They might want to tweak a particular parameter and see
what difference that makes, for example, feed additives in livestock
on what that might do to a methane emissions reduction.
So it's going to have a significant digital presence. It's
designed by Cox Architecture and we're looking to achieve Living
(07:11):
Building Challenge accreditation, so it'll be really demonstrating circular and
sustainable building design and materials as a bit of a
demonstration on what could be considered in the built environment
as best practice. It'll be off grid fully self sustainable.
Opening in about middle of twenty twenty six, so we're
(07:32):
into detailed design and planning at the moment.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
It's not that far away. What do you say to
people who've heard about it and say, oh, it just
sounds like a glorified tourist information center in Biger. What
would be your response to that.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Well, the fact is that the New South Wales government
has tipped in fourteen million from a tourism activation fund,
BIGER groups tipping in another five million plus the land,
so there's no doubt that it will have a tourism angle,
but it's about broadening that tourism market, like it's sort
of moving on from the traditional boom and bust leisure
tourism market to education tourism, sustainability tourism, eco agri tourism,
(08:09):
So that the aim is that we would bring people in,
we'd showcase what's happening generally with circularity, but also then
signposts to different businesses across the community, whether they be
tourism ventures, aboriginal cultural ventures or you know eco agri
tourism ventures, and then and then try and be a
disperser to other initiatives in the valley. So it will
(08:34):
have a strong tourism angle. But and that's about building
the local regional economy. But more importantly it's going to
be about education and demonstration of circular practices.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
And why Biger, Why the bigger valley?
Speaker 3 (08:46):
I mean, Barry's response to this is why not bigger biggers?
In a way unique but not unique, it's a it's
a reasonably isolated regional economy, but it is diverse. You know,
we've got forestry, national parks, grazing, you know, dairy and beef,
through to some horticulture down to aquaculture on the coast
surrounded by forest on three sization on the other. So
(09:08):
the suggestion is that with that diversity, there's a lot
to measure and really practice demonstrating transition. But there's also
possibly an ability to measure a bit better because we've
got two roads in and out. We've got one Shire
Council who's very supportive and a reasonably committed an enthusiastic
local community, whether it be in the agriculture sector or
(09:30):
the services sector or across tourism and hospitality. So it's
a really good opportunity to measure and demonstrate what can
be done in a regional economy to transition to circularity.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Andrew Taylor there the man who'll be overseeing every stage
of the Regional Circularity Cooperative and the National Center due
to open in twenty twenty six. You can get more
info by going to the website big at Circular Valley
dot com dot au, and you can check out the
design of the center at Cox architec extra, dot com
dot au. That's all for this episode of Iheartfar South Coast,
(10:04):
proudly supported by the new South Wales Government. I'm James
Fantasy Catcher. Next time I Heart Far South Coast.
I ah Fast South Coast. I think this project, the
circularity project we're running here and the center that we
will build will actually just create an enormous amount of
opportunity for the region. But I always say, look, it's
great that the region's famous for Bega cheese, and it's
great that it's famous for its beautiful beaches and it's
wonderful oisters, but we also want to make it famous
for its environmental footprint, for its sustainability.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Get a. I'm James fantasy. And in this day and
age of doing our best to embrace less of the
disposable stuff and more of the pre loved stuff, most
of us are doing what we can to be more
conscious of our own footprint on planet Earth. What goes
around should come back around, right Well, the Bigger Valley
is about to become the poster child for the concept
(00:45):
of circularity. Circular what you say, Well, by the year
twenty thirty, the Bigger Valley hopes to be Australia's most
circular economy. That means, as a region will be the
best at repurposing resources in different ways forms so that
we're needing fewer materials, thus closing the loop in the
consumption chain. The project is called the Regional Circular Cooperative
(01:09):
and the idea is being driven by a pretty big
cheese in our business community, Barry Irvin, the chairman of
the Bigger Group formerly known as Biger Cheese. It's not
just a project, it's a passion for Barry. He says,
where miles behind Europe, places like the Netherlands are aiming
to be a fully circular economy as a whole country,
(01:29):
rather than just focusing on a figure for net emissions.
But we have to start somewhere. Over the next few years,
we'll be watching a nineteen million dollar National Center for
Circularity be built on Lagoon Street in North Beger, next
door to Bigger Cheese, with the center becoming a centerpiece
for tourism and education. Barry Irvin says the center represents
(01:50):
the essence of what circularity is and it's important all
the key players of the local economy are on board for.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
The variety of industry works together, from forestry right through
to the to the dairy and bee farmers, to the horticulturalists,
to the people that manage the estory and out of
the fisheries. This brings us all together, along with the
local in digit's community along with the entire community, to
actually tell the story of the bigger valley, tell the
story of how food's produced, how timber is produced, and
(02:19):
indeed how it's produced sustainably. And so I think we
will have a different approach, in different thinking, and the
Circularity Center will be a lighthouse for that thinking. And
it will also be I think, a place that will
be visited by many, whether they're academics or tourists or
people from around the country, around the world to see
how you actually embed in a community in a project
(02:42):
where everybody has input but also has benefit.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
And for the regular Joe blowout there. What does circularity mean?
What does it all mean?
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Well, I think so, I think I would put it
this way simply, so we tend to think about environmental
projects in isolation or in silos, so people will talk
about emissions, or they'll talk about biodiversity, or they'll talk
about packaging. Circularity is actually about thinking about the entire
life cycle of the resources that you use. So in short,
(03:14):
if you think about a product that's been made traditionally,
you know, we would take a resource, we would turn
it into a product, we would sell that product and
we would not think very much about it beyond that point,
so we wouldn't think about how it was disposed, what
the impacts might be. Under a circularity system, you actually
think about the end of life at the very beginning,
so you ideally use renewable resources. Where you can't use
(03:35):
renewable resources, you think about how long you can keep
those resources in use at the highest value in the economy,
so you literally get maximum value out of that, and
then you think about what happens to it at the
end of life and how to be disposed. So it
is a different way of thinking. It is a relatively
simple way of thinking and a subtle change, but it
(03:55):
has a great outcome, both from an environmental point of view,
an economic point of view, and ultimately a social point
of view as well.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Okay, so that's the definitive explanation of what circularity is.
Thank you, mister Irvan. And the Bigger Group is putting
its money where its mission is, contributing five million dollars
to the project, with the new South Wales government kicking
in the rest. And there's some heavy hitters at the
table adding their expertise like Rabobank, KPMG, Deloitte, Charles Sturt
(04:24):
UNI and the University of Wollongong Stay whether it's next
to the man in charge of the show, Andrew Taylor
from the Regional Circularity Cooperative, turning the vision into an
everyday reality.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I art Far South Coast.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I Art Far South Coast. Hi there, I'm James Fantasy.
Time to drill down a little deeper into what it
actually means for the Bigger Valley in the transition to
a circular economy. The valley is already punching well above
its waves in terms of sustainable with many examples like
Ocean to Earth taking aquaculture and forestry waste and turning
(05:06):
it into high value fertilizer, or the Biger Repair Cafe
which is focused on fixing white goods rather than dumping
into landfill. So let's bring in Andrew Taylor, who's going
to be running the Regional Circular Cooperative and has had
a big say in what the center will offer. The
building itself will sit on Lagoon Street in North Bega
(05:26):
and the Cox architecture design is absolutely next level in
terms of sustainable architecture. The building design is meant to
reflect ideas and metaphors that give people the opportunity to
learn and apply a circular economy to everyday life. And
Andrew can't wait to work there.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
So shamelessly named National Circularity Center. When you talk to
our friends in Canberra, they hesitate and go, what in Biger.
But that's the vision of Barry Ivan. You know, why
not build the National Circularity Center in Biger that can
really showcase not just what we're doing in transition to
circular economy, but what our neighbors are doing, what our
forebears have done, and also what's happening on the other
(06:06):
side of the world. So the National Circularity Center, many
people know the Beech's Heritage Center, so that will be
transitioned into the National Circularity Center. But predominantly it's going
to be an education demonstration piece. Is going to have
a provad or cafe restaurant. It's going to have museum
style information where you might look at what's happened in
(06:26):
the past, present, and what will happen in the future.
It'll have a significant digital experience so people will be
able to The idea is that we would censorize the
valley so we would get, you know, in real time
understanding what's happening in sustainability or circularity across the valley
and then put that into a digital twin which I
had to google about two years ago. But that's where
(06:48):
you get a digital representation of what's happening in real time,
and that becomes a really good education piece for students.
They might want to tweak a particular parameter and see
what difference that makes, for example, feed additives in livestock
on what that might do to a methane emissions reduction.
So it's going to have a significant digital presence. It's
designed by Cox Architecture and we're looking to achieve Living
(07:11):
Building Challenge accreditation, so it'll be really demonstrating circular and
sustainable building design and materials as a bit of a
demonstration on what could be considered in the built environment
as best practice. It'll be off grid fully self sustainable.
Opening in about middle of twenty twenty six, so we're
(07:32):
into detailed design and planning at the moment.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
It's not that far away. What do you say to
people who've heard about it and say, oh, it just
sounds like a glorified tourist information center in Biger. What
would be your response to that.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Well, the fact is that the New South Wales government
has tipped in fourteen million from a tourism activation fund,
BIGER groups tipping in another five million plus the land,
so there's no doubt that it will have a tourism angle,
but it's about broadening that tourism market, like it's sort
of moving on from the traditional boom and bust leisure
tourism market to education tourism, sustainability tourism, eco agri tourism,
(08:09):
So that the aim is that we would bring people in,
we'd showcase what's happening generally with circularity, but also then
signposts to different businesses across the community, whether they be
tourism ventures, aboriginal cultural ventures or you know eco agri
tourism ventures, and then and then try and be a
disperser to other initiatives in the valley. So it will
(08:34):
have a strong tourism angle. But and that's about building
the local regional economy. But more importantly it's going to
be about education and demonstration of circular practices.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
And why Biger, Why the bigger valley?
Speaker 3 (08:46):
I mean, Barry's response to this is why not bigger biggers?
In a way unique but not unique, it's a it's
a reasonably isolated regional economy, but it is diverse. You know,
we've got forestry, national parks, grazing, you know, dairy and beef,
through to some horticulture down to aquaculture on the coast
surrounded by forest on three sization on the other. So
(09:08):
the suggestion is that with that diversity, there's a lot
to measure and really practice demonstrating transition. But there's also
possibly an ability to measure a bit better because we've
got two roads in and out. We've got one Shire
Council who's very supportive and a reasonably committed an enthusiastic
local community, whether it be in the agriculture sector or
(09:30):
the services sector or across tourism and hospitality. So it's
a really good opportunity to measure and demonstrate what can
be done in a regional economy to transition to circularity.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Andrew Taylor there the man who'll be overseeing every stage
of the Regional Circularity Cooperative and the National Center due
to open in twenty twenty six. You can get more
info by going to the website big at Circular Valley
dot com dot au, and you can check out the
design of the center at Cox architec extra, dot com
dot au. That's all for this episode of Iheartfar South Coast,
(10:04):
proudly supported by the new South Wales Government. I'm James
Fantasy Catcher. Next time I Heart Far South Coast.
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