Circular Economy ‘startup meetups’ #5 webinar

NSW Circular is partnering with host Boomerang Labs in a second webinar event series called Circular Economy Startup Meetups. Hear from expert speakers on a range of CE topics, plus also hear a founder story from one CE startup in each Meetup.

Meetup #5

This week's expert is UNSW Professor, Veena Sahajwalla, innovator, materials scientist and engineer and Director of NSW Circular, and founder Olympia Yarger from Gottera, an innovative insect farming business.

Hosted by: Anna Minns, Boomerang Labs CEO

Professor Veena Sahajwalla, an Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate, is an internationally recognised materials scientist, engineer and inventor who has revolutionised recycling science. She is renowned for pioneering the high temperature transformation of waste in the production of a new generation of ‘green materials.’ In 2018 Veena launched the world’s first e-waste microfactory and in 2019 she launched her plastics microfactory, a recycling technology breakthrough. She is the founding Director of the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and founding Director of NSW Circular.

Olympia Yarger is a farmer, CEO, innovator and leader in insect farming in Australia. Yarger founded insect farm Goterra in 2016 to manage food waste and create livestock feed using robotic, modular insect farms. The modular design means these units can be placed on-site at high-volume food waste management locations such as shopping malls, FMCG factories, intensive farming operations or waste transit stations. Goterra is currently located in Canberra, where it manages food waste for hospitals, 400 households, hotels, restaurants, schools and small businesses.

Webinar event series x 2

NSW Circular is partnering with Boomerang Labs for 2 x series of webinars which have been developed by Boomerang Labs in conjunction with NSW Circular in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Entrepreneur” series and the “Startup Meetups” series are both intended to inspire and educate Australia’s emerging circular economy eco-system by inviting industry leaders to share their stories and perspective. This is part of Boomerang Lab’s work to continue to support startups and engage the whole CE community during this time of isolation, and NSW Circular’s goal to bring together and promote engagement around developing a circular economy.

Boomerang Labs

Boomerang Labs is supporting a transition to a circular economy by finding and helping grow the ideas and talents of entrepreneurs and small businesses that have circular systems and solutions at the heart of their businesses.