Rabobank supporting the circular transition in Australia’s Bega Valley
The Bega Valley in Australia has a long-term vision to become the most circular valley in the world. Led by the Regional Circularity Co-operative (RCC), the Bega Circular Valley program brings together local businesses, government, researchers and the community to rethink how resources are used across the local economy. With its strong agriculture base, initiatives focus on natural capital, waste streams, energy resilience and strengthening local supply chains. Rabobank supports this program both financially and as an active partner and member of the RCC.
What is the Bega Circular Valley program?
The Bega Circular Valley program is a place-based initiative to transform the Bega Valley —a rural region in southeast Australia reliant on agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, fisheries, food manufacturing, aged care and tourism— into a model of whole-of-community circular economy transition.
Facing challenges such as recovery from bushfires, impacts of climate changes, limited opportunities for young and disadvantaged people, rising costs of living and doing business, the region launched this vision in 2021. It involves rethinking consumption, redesigning products and services, reusing materials, reducing waste and closing local material loops so resources stay in use longer and waste becomes a raw material for new products.
The program is coordinated by the RCC, with 14 core member organisations (including Rabobank) and around 50 partners, working alongside the community, local businesses, academia, and government on practical circular solutions and sharing learnings widely. From net zero energy to circular entrepreneurship, education and manufacturing to land energy projects to waste processing.
Research as foundation
A critical first step is research. While a number of circularity initiatives were already underway, more insight into current practices and resource flows was needed to accelerate and scale impact.
To address this, the Bega Circular Valley Regional Circularity Baselining project was launched in 2026, led by Australia’s National Science agency, CSIRO. Over 18 months, the project maps how materials flow through the regional economy, tracking inputs, outputs, waste streams and potential synergies between businesses.
Its findings will identify economic, social and environmental opportunities for circularity, which will translate to a pipeline of initiatives, pilots and new circular business models to be implemented and scaled across the region.
Rabobank as partner
As a cooperative bank, Rabobank reinvests part of its profits into initiatives that strengthen long-term resilience and sustainability in the communities it serves. This project is a good example of this approach and will also produce a science-based methodology other regions can replicate for their own transition towards a circular economy.
“Rabobank is proud to support this project,” says Jurre Smits from Rabobank. “By building a clearer picture of the region’s material flows, local producers can identify and pursue scalable circular solutions. As a leading global food and agriculture bank, we believe strongly in the potential of regional communities to shape a more resilient future.”
Circularity plays an important role in Rabobank’s approach to sustainable agriculture, land use and energy transition. By reducing reliance on finite inputs, closing material and nutrient loops, and capturing value from waste streams, circular systems can make agriculture more resilient and productive. At the same time, shorter supply chains and resource reuse strengthen and future-proof regional economies.
Creating new opportunities
For local businesses, circularity offers new opportunities. They can save costs by smartly reusing resources. Collaboration with other businesses creates new revenue models. The region becomes less dependent on external suppliers. For the community, it means a stronger local economy, more employment (especially for the young people of the region) and a healthier living environment.
A long-term vision
The RCC has an ambitious goal: by 2030, the Bega Valley aims to be Australia’s most circular place-based regional economy, and by 2050, a world leader in circularity.
Rabobank, CSIRO and a host of other local, national and international partners are working towards that future step by step, through tangible workstreams informed by world-leading research. A key milestone is the development of the National Circularity Centre in Bega, which will showcase circular practices and act as a hub for innovation, education and collaboration.
Together, these efforts will position the Bega Valley as a leading example of place-based circular economy transition, in Australia and beyond.
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