About Us
CIRCULAR ECONOMY FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND - CEFNQ
Or Circular Economy FNQ.
REFUSE, REDUCE. REUSE. REDESIGN. REGENERATE.
OUR STORY
As a group, we were established in early 2017 and through that time we contributed to the Zero Plastic local and state conversations. We also created the foundation version of the Waste Map to identify locations that were taking sorted waste .
We were formed to create a place for many organisations and groups to have a central place to come together and share their knowledge for a common goal – the environment.
Then in 2021 Irene Portelli took over the helm as Chair and then transitioned the CFWR group to be named Circular Economy FNQ. Through 2 years of working part time pro bono hours with local circular innovators and doing a micro credential through cQU she achieved the status of Certified Social Enterprise.
In 2024 she registered, we made it - better for the planet, as the for profit company to take on the Certified Social Enterprise status so that as the innovations Irene worked 2.5 years to secure could at transition to a dynamic equity business with 60% of the profits going to the social purpose.
Which is to ensure that disadvantaged youth are at the table of the Circular Industrial Economy which will be the largest shift of wealth we will see in over 100 years. Using Doughnut Economic principles, human centred design and education frameworks like Kaos Pilot and Climate Action Schools Program to bring innovative education and the LEAN framework into sovereign manufacturing via the micro factories she has curated.
Now as our board grows with members who have done at least 300 volunteer hours and have a passion for ensuring we have diverse actors; teachers, art, business, data, environmental engineers and outside the box thinkers to create an atmosphere of thriving. Our goal this decade is to develop a hub of Circular Economy specialists and entrepreneurs in our precinct where we focus on two core principles of Circular Economy; REDUCE and REDESIGN. In that order.
Our Circular Economy goals to decentralise waste management and introduce reManufacturing into remote and regional Australia.
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We are A/B testing a roadmap to a Circular Economy in a data driven way with a First Nation lead design.
Our Roadmap To 2030
We are building and executing Circular Economy R&D projects, with data and PhD students. Our core principle of design is
Human Centred Design something that was part of our Social Enterprise journey. What we are building is a scaleable solution to resources [waste issues] for the
Circular Entrepreneurs and Scientists that we are delivering
microfactories.
Product Stewardship Certification is what we can offer as we can take products at their end of life and we remanufacture it to be regenerative. Additive Manufacturing and a global licensed tech to help product supply chain resources for the Graphene industry that is growing.
We are bringing community along with us in the form of Book Club and our private group accessible via our memberships where we have a secure and private onboard community tool where we will be sharing our Events like films, Courses that support the Green Jobs our micro factories.
We will be building passive homes out of plastic waste and producing Biochar and bio oil from tech we have a global license for. We are working towards being a Product Stewardship Certifier so that your products can be managed in a regenerative way at the end of their life.
Each micro factory cluster will come with ISO14001 certification.
The Opportunity Ahead
Every 10k tonne of waste|resources we divert from landfill creates 9.2 jobs. We believe we can increase that number to 14.2 jobs per 10k tonne through high speed On Demand sovereign manufacturing pilot in Australia, there are already microfactories in the pipeline from Ag to Plastics to Metal Tools. Its the core hub of a community after Climate Events.
On Demand Manufacturing reduces costs by 88% and the impact on the environment by over 90% by using the virgin resource over and over without reducing the quality of the Polymers of the plastics.
We have a micro factory that will reduce contaminated Agriculture|Hospital or beach clean up plastics from going to landfill, without the need for chemical washing prior to our processing, reducing the Carbon Footprint of our systems considerably.
Our aim is to get the Micro factories to create local regenerative and distributive economies. We have an environmental problem and a social problem, when you have quality jobs then you have more stable homes. And from that everything begins to click.
Meet Our Team - We're Growing
Irene
Portelli
President
Data Analyst
ADHD Citizen Researcher
Systems thinker via Leyla Acaroglu's Unschools - Disruptive Design Thinking which is all about designing out single use. When you see systems create patterns and trends then you can figure a lot of things out with the right data.
Fall in love with the problem.
Ann Atkinson
Treasurer
Our feedback loop; governance and events. The longest person serving on the board.
Worked in the Lab at Cane Mills so is a great feedback loop human.
Bookkeeper
Owner – Jim's Bookkeeping Tropics
Lisa Higgins
Secretary
10 years Experience In LGA & NGO sector In Aotearoa and Ireland. Supporting community-led initiatives that create lasting impact.
Initiatives that use Innovation, collaboration and local insight to address social, economic and environmental challenges.
How You Can Get Learn or Get Involved
The best way to support us is to buy a shirt, share a post or learn with us. We are screening Ocean at Salt House with a Phytoplankton Project which offers Education around STEEM focusing on the Environmental Science E. Retrosuburbia is the Book for Book Club as a down sizers & food security guide we will discuss around Potluck Dinners, TBA in newsletter or FB . It's co-designed and we are building on ideas.
Blue Carbon Project - Ocean Iron Seeding Supply Chain
Our Blue–Green Carbon Project links Australia’s red dirt to the Southern Ocean’s most powerful climate engine. By studying biogenic iron dust from our own landscapes — and how it supports diatom blooms in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current — we’re exploring a natural pathway that could mitigate up to 30% of ocean-based climate impacts.
This work connects land and sea rangers, Scouts, farmers, and coastal communities in a shared mission: restoring ocean systems, strengthening whale populations, and building the Ocean Observatories needed for real global governance. It’s science, culture, and climate action woven together.
And as a tribute to Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday, we dedicate this project to the legacy he created — protecting the planet through knowledge, care, and collective action.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Staying in touch is the best way to find out what's happening with inititatives and find our ways to support us on an event-by-event basis. Our Newsletter subscription is on our Contact Us page.
How We Are Showing UP
Ocean Screenings
Join us at Salt House.
Join us for a community screening of Ocean, followed by a
short worksheet & discussion around Ocean Treaty and Phytoplankton Research, biogenic iron dust, & how they all connect to the future of our climate.
This session brings connection for inland and coastal students, families, and community members together to learn how Australia’s red dirt and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and a whole lot of Fish and Krill poo — is a real moonshot to reviving the planet and Ocean.
Environmental Camps
Our Environmental Journals > make the Camps connect with families through existing programs like Scouts, Homeschooling, High Schools - extra curricular experiences to see, read and report nature using a backpack-sized microscope that lets them find and map diatom colonies in fresh and salt water. Test Biogenic Iron Dust Pools and see what's happening when it doesn't look like anything is happening.
Understanding ecosystems helps design nature first solutions through knowing how to system think, map, change. Perfect for Scouts, Youth Mentors Programs and adventurous families, these camps spark curiosity, confidence, and a real connection to country.
Buy A Tshirt
Every Shirt Funds Our Work.
Systems Thinking and Pilots for Co-ops, Micro Factories and a Blue Carbon Project that will bring Environmental Science Degree Jobs to the region.
MicroFactory sublicense Pilot with community benefits & ownership.
Data literacy. Media Literacy and how to be a great citizen researcher, we actually find stuff when we surround ourselves with all kinds of thinkers, makers, doers, positive people.
Our Sponsors Link Below
