Circular Economy businesses invited for early involvement in major Ballarat circular economy initiatives

The City of Ballarat and Development Victoria are working in partnership to establish a Circular Economy Precinct in the next land release of the Ballarat West Employment Zone (BWEZ). 

Over the next four weeks, the City of Ballarat is calling for Expressions of Interest from businesses seeking to provide circular economy solutions for waste and recycling material streams from the region. 

In the circular economy, resources are used and reused, rather than used up and discarded. This helps to keep materials in use longer and reduces the volume of waste to landfill. 

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson said the Expressions of Interest presents an exciting opportunity for businesses to maximise value from the region’s materials. 

“We are committed to building a strong circular economy that will deliver social, environmental and economic benefits for the broader region,” he said. 

“The City of Ballarat is working with neighbouring local government areas and Central Highlands Water to investigate how we can better manage our materials and keep more of their value locally.” 

An Expression of Interest process is now also open for approximately 14 hectares of land in Stage 3B of BWEZ. Development Victoria is encouraging businesses experienced in Circular Economy practices to bid for fully-serviced, high-quality industrial and commercial land. 

Development Victoria’s EOI campaign is scheduled to run for eight weeks through to the middle of May 2023. The land is anticipated to become available in late 2024. 

To be eligible for this opportunity, businesses must address a set of criteria to ensure they are able to meet a certain standard of capability and capacity, policy outcomes, and proposed use. 

BWEZ is a $30 million joint initiative between the Victorian Government and the City of Ballarat to support the region’s economic growth over the next 20 years. BWEZ is being delivered by Development Victoria on behalf of Regional Development Victoria. 

The precinct delivers more than 400 hectares of industrial land to attract large-scale businesses to Ballarat, which will build on the region’s existing strengths and help boost the local economy. 

Bidders can choose to participate in the City of Ballarat’s EOI or Development Victoria’s EOI or both.