The Australian Furniture Association has been involved in the launch of the very first accredited Course in Circular Economy Practices.
AFA CEO, Patrizia Torelli, was appointed Chair of the working group who contributed to the development of the course in Circular Economy Practices which will be available for delivery from 1 July 2024 and listed on Training.gov.au.
In launching the Course in CEP, Ms Torelli referenced the First Nations people. ‘Australia’s First Nations people have a long history of sustainable living practices through their spiritual attachment to plants and animals, the conservation and use of natural resources in line with traditional wisdom, and a recognition of the spiritual and economic significance of various environments in a totem system, which plays a key part in their way of life. It is fitting that we embrace some of these philosophies as we move towards a more sustainable and circular future and provide access to the training required to deliver a skilled workforce for this evolving industry.
A dedicated group of experts, across a wide spectrum of industries including social enterprises, education and training providers, jobs and skill creation organisations, local government, environmental agencies and industry gave of their time and expertise to develop and build this important training package which will become increasingly more relevant and meaningful in the future.
The course content was not readily available in nationally recognised training products and the need for an accredited training program to provide specific circular economy skills and knowledge to support these strategies is critical to meet impending Federal and State governments’ environmental and sustainability’ goals.
‘As we launch the Course in Circular Economy Practices, we are confident that participants will exit with the skills and knowledge required for job roles in the developing Circular Economy (CE) across Australia and beyond. This program will appeal to young people who are interested in the impact of consumerism on the environment. We need to promote sustainable consumption, reduce waste, and prioritise eco-friendly alternatives to mitigate these impacts. Young people tend to embrace programs which raise awareness and are drawn to conscious choices that can make a difference in preserving our planet. Fast Fads. Fast Fashion. Fast Furniture. Fast anything – will become a thing of the past.’
The Course will enable graduates to safely follow circular economy practices in a variety of occupational roles to achieve the highest reuse value of goods, components and materials.
This requires the skills and knowledge to:
- Apply circular economy practices to enhance quality of work performance.
- Sort and assess goods, components, and materials for reuse.
- Process goods, components, and materials for reuse.
- Recycle goods, components, and materials.
Workers may be employees in any industry but particularly in manufacturing, remanufacturing, or volunteers and employees working in various roles in recycling centres, charity outlets or other circular economy enterprises.
The Course in Circular Economy Practices provides the skills and knowledge required for a variety of work roles in enterprises that seek to design products, utilise goods, components and materials in a manner that promotes repair, take back, reuse and avoids disposal of products and resources to landfill.
Learners will be able to demonstrate essential knowledge required to effectively demonstrate knowledge of:
- Applicable OHS legislation and regulations
- Hazardous goods, components, and materials, that pose risks to humans and the environment.
- Data security procedures.
- ‘Buy Back’ schemes and other manufacturer-led reuse schemes.
- Labels, QR codes, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Product Passports, and other identifiers applied to goods indicating reuse pathways.
- Goods, materials and components and their commercially viable reuse options.
- Workplace assessment and test procedures and the ‘next life’ decision rules to determine process assignment: resell, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, re-purpose, recycle.
- Workplace record keeping and traceability procedures.
- And Legislation and regulations related to waste disposal.
‘The benefits and opportunities speak for themselves. This is important for so many reasons and the Australian Furniture Association and the furniture industry as a whole are in total support of the Course. We urge training institutions to deliver the program where possible or recommend the program to students where practical.’