Lisa Birch

General Manager - Solutions, Closed Loop

Lisa is a strategy and project leader with nearly 20 years’ experience addressing packaging sustainability challenges from the producer side. She leads the Closed Loop Solutions division, helping organisations translate circular economy ambition into practical, commercially viable systems. Previously, Lisa led the development of 7-Eleven Australia’s first enterprise sustainability strategy and early modern slavery reporting and action programs. She was also a founding leader of the Simply Cups product stewardship initiative, one of Australia’s first national coffee cup recycling programs. 

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Esther Hughes

Principal Consultant, MRA Consulting Group

Esther has been working in the waste and resource recovery sector for the past 10 years. She is a Principal Environmental Consultant at MRA Consulting Group and leads the Planning and Approvals team. Her experience encompasses many types of materials and processes including waste to energy, recycling and sorting, organics processing, waste transfer, and remanufacturing.  Esther is particularly interested Waste to Energy and in the integrated frameworks of economy, policy, and regulation. She is passionate about environmental solutions that meet business demands.

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Amy Smith

Senior Consultant, Climate and Sustainability Services, Arup

Amy is a Senior Sustainability Consultant and circular economy lead at Arup, specialising in low-carbon and resource-efficient building design. Since relocating from Arup’s London office to Sydney in early 2024, she has brought technical expertise and European best practice to the Australian built environment sector.

Amy leads the delivery of key circular economy initiatives, including the incoming NSW Councils Circular Economy Toolkit, NSW Design for Disassembly Guidance, the City of Sydney’s Circular Design Guidelines, and the published NSW Recycled Materials Guide. She is passionate about enabling a more circular and regenerative future through practical tools, cross-sector collaboration, and design-led innovation.

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Vanessa Cullen

Founder & Principal, FTD Circular

Vanessa is Founder and Principal of Forward Thinking Design (trading as FTD Circular), a social enterprise advancing circular economy implementation across the built environment.

Vanessa specialises in translating policy and sustainability targets into practical outcomes that deliver measurable environmental, social and financial value. She advises government, industry and not-for-profits on circular strategy, reuse systems and material valorisation.

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