Boomerang Labs Accelerator revs up circular economy innovators

THIRTEEN NSW businesses have been selected to participate in Boomerang Labs’ six-month Accelerator program for late-stage circular economy startups.

Starting this month, the Accelerator will help participating startups scale and commercialise their businesses through workshops, mentoring, coaching and networking. The Boomerang Labs Accelerator program is backed by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and Ernst & Young (EY). 

 “We wanted to reach out to different types of businesses and take a sector-agnostic approach, because getting to a truly circular economy requires innovation and collaboration across all scales and supply chains,” Boomerang Labs general manager, Caitlyn Touzell said.

NSW EPA actng executive director of Programs and Innovation, Arminda Ryan said the EPA was proud to partner with Boomerang Labs to provide advice to startups aiming to reduce, re-use, recycle or avoid materials. Circular economy businesses emphasise reducing waste at all stages of supply chains, through approaches such as sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. 

“The Accelerator program will better enable these startups to establish strong business foundations, connect with potential strategic partners and key stakeholders and pursue investment opportunities and pathways to raise capital,” Ms Ryan said. “We know that transitioning to a circular economy and achieving our waste reduction goals will require new and innovative approaches from industry as well as governments.” 

“It’s great to see NSW business bringing new ideas to the table and exploring sustainable solutions for complex waste and recycling issues across a variety of sectors.”

EY Oceania chief sustainability officer, Mat Nelson said, “Innovation will be critical in transitioning to a true circular economy and at EY we understand the important role startups and entrepreneurs will play in this.

“We work with clients every day to help drive their sustainability agendas, and through our EY Ripples program we are excited to also be supporting initiatives like Boomerang Labs’ circular economy accelerator, enabling EY professionals to work with impact entrepreneurs to create positive and lasting change.”

Ms Touzell said Boomerang Labs was proud to partner with the NSW EPA Sustainability Partnerships program and EY to deliver the 2023-24 Accelerator program at no cost to participants. While this round was only available to businesses in NSW, Boomerang Labs would aim to again offer their nationwide program and explore other state and territory specific programs in the future.

The Accelerator has been designed to invite collaboration with industry, investors and government over the course of the six-month program.

For more information on how to become involved in this Accelerator or future Boomerang Labs programs, contact general manager Caitlyn Touzell: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

www.boomeranglabs.org.au

 

Boomerang Labs Accelerator 2023-24 cohort of startups

BRAD by Banish (banish.com.au): Banish, founded by former Young Australian of the Year, Lottie Dalziel, was born in a bid to help Australians reduce their waste with the right products and even better information. All products stocked on Banish must adhere to a strict set of guidelines, such as being palm oil-free, paraben-free, responsibly made and not tested on animals, as well as not including any of the ingredients listed on the Banish ‘sin bin’. BRAD, the Banish Recycling and Disposal program, helps Australians divert hard-to-recycle household items from landfill and is one of Australia’s most inclusive specialty programs.

Bearhug Pallet Wraps (bearhugpalletwraps.com): Bearhug Pallet Wraps was born from the frustration of a truck driver wasting a kilo of plastic each day. “I come back to the warehouse every day, my truck comes back every day, my pallets come back every day, why can’t my wrap?” With a mission to reduce pallet wrap waste one thousandfold, Bearhug developed the strategies needed for successful implementation, the systems needed for their application throughout supply chains, and the mutual understanding to do it right.

CandleXchange (candlexchange.com.au): The mission of CandleXchange, founded in the Northern Beaches, is to make the luxury of home fragrances more affordable, zero landfill and accessible for everyone. This includes re-using glass containers, soy wax instead of paraffin, 100 percent re-used, recycled or compostable packaging materials and carbon-neutral delivery. The business plans to prevent 1 million containers and 100 tonnes of packaging waste from entering landfill by 2030.

Charopy (charopy.com.au): When education and signage do not deliver the required level of compliance in out-of-home recycling bins, Charopy’s technology provides a solution: a locked flap that only opens for eligible items, combined with real-time online reporting. Charopy is the ideal tool for sustainability managers and facilities managers in shopping centres, hospitals, stadiums, corporate offices and more.

Delivery Hound (deliveryhound.com.au): Delivery Hound is replacing single-use plastic dog food packaging, which can’t be recycled. Even those neat cardboard boxes have a single-use plastic bag inside. With Delivery Hound, customers only ever use two recyclable tubs: the one they have, and the one that staff are cleaning, refilling and replacing for the customer.

Devolver Pty Ltd (devolver.com.au): Devolver’s two apps work together to make borrowing and tracking reusable containers easy and efficient. Retailers simply use their app to scan the customer's unique QR code, and then scan the QR code of the reusable container. This eliminates the need for disposable packaging and helps reduce waste. 

Nviro1: About 600 billion PET drink bottles are produced every year, with caps that must be separated because they are made of different mixed plastics. Nviro1 produces the first 100 percent  PET bottle with a tethered, resealable cap, reducing the risk of litter and costly sorting for recyclers.

RCYCL (rcycl.com.au): RCYCL offers a hassle-free solution for direct-to-consumer clothing recycling. Consumers drop off clothing that is unfit for donation or reuse and RCYCL works with industry experts who specialise in sorting and processing different types of fibres to ensure that nothing goes to waste.

Resolarcycle (resolarcycle.com): Resolarcycle takes older but still usable solar panels (such as if someone is upgrading, for example) and redistributes them to areas in Asia and Africa where access to electricity is not readily available. The company also recycles non-usable solar panels.

Reynard Wood (reynardwood.com): Reynard Wood produces building products made from iron ore tailings waste from Australia’s largest export sales of iron ore that have been building significant waste problems offshore. The result is industrialised safe-waste composite based, with lower energy used to produce, and mass distribute. A non-intruding solution to the Australian environment, it can replace traditional hardwood and softwood timber used for consumer products in their current outdoors application.

Superyard (superyard.com.au): As a sustainable construction marketplace, Superyard enables construction businesses to find and sell unused construction materials and equipment. Membership is free, and the company charges no commission or listing fees.

Utilitarian (utilitarian.world): Utilitarian.World is a global community of consumers, brands, and circular economy platforms dedicated to creating a green, clean, and circular future. It provides consumers with a single digital wallet that enables tailored, rewards-orientated sustainability actions, with a variety of incentives.

Yaali Collective (yaalicollective.com.au): Yaali Collective is an Indigenous-owned company that provides goods and services that are educational (teaching Aboriginal culture), easy to use (provide simple strategies), and interactive (engaging). As the business grows, the company will focus on becoming more sustainable in manufacturing and production of its resources using more sustainable materials and reducing waste, lead cultural revitalisation through on-country programs and experience with a Biodiversity Conservation Agreement, protecting the flora and fauna, and grow service offering in flora and fauna protection and transfer the knowledge and opportunities to the next generation of proud Aboriginal leaders.

 

Main image caption: 

Pictured front row from left are Mark Goodall (nviro1), Karen Platt (CandleXchange), Lottie Dalziel (BRAD by Banish), Hayley Clarke (CandleXchange), Belinda Paul (RCYCL), and Jeremy Maitland (Delivery Hound). Back row from left are Joseph Moloney (Resolarcycle), Martin Collings (Charopy), Tim Lee (Utilitarian), Tom Fields (Bearhug Pallet Wraps), George Reinke (Reynard Wood) and Ritchie Djamhur (Superyard). Other Accelerator members not in the picture are Max Higgins (Bearhug Pallet Wraps), Mary Walker and Allie Bentley (Devolver Pty Ltd), Steffan Jost (Resolarcycle) and Cleveland McGhie (Yaali Collective). Image supplied by Boomerang Labs.

 

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