In the city of Hume, Victoria, hard waste is a major contributor to the continued usage of landfills. To combat this, the Hume City Council is developing a Collection and Redistribution Hub as a way to both divert hard waste from landfills and reduce illegal dumping. The goal of our project was to develop a prototype model for the hub that provides new economic opportunities while minimizing the cost of hard waste disposal. Critical insight was gathered through interviews with executives from circular economy businesses, walk-throughs of their facilities, tours of the current hard waste collection centres, and collaborative events with various stakeholders. Based on this insight, a model was developed that described the material flow, employment structure, potential business opportunities, digitalization, and community involvement of the hub. With these aspects of the hub we were able to address all three legs of the sustainability stool. Based on the results of a SWOT analysis of the prototype model, the Hume City Council should research the financial models of similar hubs around the world, pilot the reuse mall system through a local pop-up shop, determine a finalized location for the hub, and further investigate potential partnerships.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Wolf, Lily
• Morales, Xavier
• Loree, Sophie

Subject

• Inclusion
• Industry
• Sustainability
• Innovation
• Environment
• Community

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• 82726
• E-project-121322-203227

Mot-clé

• Illegal Dumping
• Sustainability
• Waste Disposal
• Circular Economy
• Hard Waste
• Hume Circular Economy Initiative

Advisor

• Ault, Holly Keyes
• Dominko, Tanja

Year

• 2022

Center

• Melbourne, Australia Project Center - IQP

Sponsor

• George Osborne

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
• 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
• 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
• 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

Date created

• 2022-12-13

Resource type

• Interactive Qualifying Project

Source

• E-project-121322-203227

Rights statement

• In Copyright

Dernière modification

• 2023-01-13