The SPW CRC held its first Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 7 November. The Members of the company, comprised of Core and Key Partners and formed to manage the delivery of the CRC’s activities, appointed six members of this company’s Board lead by the CRC’s independent Chair, Dr Leonie Walsh.

Three of these Board members were appointed because they were the elected at the AGM to each chair one of the Board’s three Key Advisory Committees. In addition, three independent Board members were also appointed at the meeting. The CRC is fortunate to have a Board with the breadth of skills required for setting the governance framework and strategic vision for the CRC’s success.

Independent Chair – Dr Leonie Walsh

Dr Leonie Walsh is the Chair of the Solving Plastic Waste CRC. Leonie is an experienced leader and adviser in technology innovation and commercialisation with more than 30 years of experience both locally and internationally in roles across broad sectors of the plastics value chain including Dow Chemical, Visy, Paintback and the Victorian EPA. Following on from a role as Victorian Lead Scientist, Leonie’s more recent experience is working at the interface of industry, government and academia across clean technologies, education, and defence.

Committee Director – Prof Andrea Bishop (Griffith University)
– Chair of Research and Education Advisory Committee (REAC)

Prof Andrea Bishop is the Pro Vice Chancellor Research at Griffith University and holds a PhD in physical chemistry from Monash University focussed on polymeric materials for energy devices.  She gained international research experience before moving to a series of strategic leadership roles in higher education. She also undertook a brief secondment to the Australian Research Council’s Strategy Branch in 2013.

Andrea has a strong, practical grounding in higher education and its administration informed by education qualifications and a MBA. She champions business intelligence in decision-making and has broad experience in driving positive organisational change.

Andrea has relevant CRC governance experience as a Board Director of the Soils CRC and served as an Interim Director of the Solving Plastic Waste CRC during its establishment phase. Her other Board related experience has come from Director roles including as a QLD Defence Science Alliance Director and as an Alternate Director with Health Translation QLD.

Committee Director – Karen Marler (New South Wales EPA)
– Chair of Operations and Performance Advisory Committee (OPAC)

Karen Marler is currently Director Technical Services (Chemicals, Land & Radiation) for NSW EPA.

Karen has lived in the Hunter for most of her life and is amongst the EPA’s most experienced staff members. Karen trained as a biologist and moved into the field of environmental health, starting her career with local government as an Environmental Health and Building Surveyor. With years of local experience in the field, Karen brings to the role a wealth of knowledge on key environmental issues such as the Williamtown PFAS contamination.

Prior to be being appointed to her current position Karen held various regulatory and special projects roles with the EPA, including roles as a Senior Operations Officer and Unit Head.  She led the EPA’s formation of the Newcastle Community Consultative Committee on the Environment and has extensive experience as an environmental regulator.

Karen has a BSc in Biology/Biological Sciences, a BSc in Environmental Health and Environmental Engineering and an Executive Masters in Public Administration and Organisational Leadership.

Committee Director – Darren Thorpe (APR Plastics)
– Chair of Utilisation and Impact Advisory Committee (UIAC)

With nearly 40 years of experience in the recycling industry, Darren Thorpe is the Managing Director of APR Group, a leading provider of recycling solutions for paper, kerbside, and plastics in Australia. Darren oversees the operations, sales, and strategy of three businesses within the group: Australian Paper Recovery, APR Kerbside and APR Plastics.

Darren has a proven track record of developing new business opportunities, managing key accounts, and delivering operational excellence across the group. He is passionate about creating a circular economy and reducing environmental impact through innovative and sustainable recycling practices. Darren works with a diverse and talented team of professionals who share the same vision and values of APR Group, and together they aim to achieve the highest standards of quality, service, and customer satisfaction in the industry.

Prior to establishing the APR Group, Darren was the State Manager and Senior Executive for Visy Recycling.

Independent Director – Phillip Bradley

Phillip Bradley is an advisor and mentor for emerging firms. He is passionate about finding and unlocking potential and transforming the energy sector through innovation, technology, and diverse expertise. He aims to address some of the world’s greatest challenges in a sustainable and community-centred way.

Phillip has over 38 years of experience in corporate and consulting firms, including 12 years as Global CFO of GHD, followed by two years establishing a corporate venture capital arm. He has been a key player in more than 50 mergers and acquisitions across four continents, leading the negotiation, execution, and integration of these deals. Phillip has a wealth of non-executive director experience and a flair for designing and executing business strategy. He helps build organisations that are financially robust, adaptable, and future-ready.

Phillip was also an Executive Sponsor and mentor of numerous technology applications built within GHD, including a circular economy application to support the management of retail and commercial fit-outs from data acquisition to vendor monitoring.

Phillip is a Chartered Accountant, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and holds a Bachelor of Business Accounting and a MBA from RMIT University.

Independent Director – Prof Matthew Cuthbertson

Throughout a distinguished and multi-faceted career, Prof Matthew Cuthbertson has made major contributions to strategic investment, technology innovation and enterprise development across a diverse range of business sectors, including clean energy, vision care, advanced manufacturing, higher education and engineering services. In 2003 he was awarded a Centenary of Federation Medal for contributions to applied science in Australia.

Building on postgraduate qualifications in science and intellectual property law, Matthew has held several significant and relevant career appointments i.e.:

  • Board member with technology companies, research centres, a venture fund and community organisations – traversing diverse governance models, structures, and strategic challenges.
  • CEO of two very different but equally successful CRCs (CRC for Sensor Signals and Information Processing and AutoCRC).
  • Executive roles at two leading, technology intensive universities.
  • Vice President Research & Technology at a global (NYSE listed) corporation (SOLA International).

Currently Matthew is Chair of the Victorian Clean Technology Fund and Deputy Chair of the Victorian Division of the Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering.

Matthew is passionate about innovation in science, business and policy – to drive social change, stimulate investment and solve complex real-world challenges. He is adept at leading complex collaborations and forging a shared vision for success.

Independent Director – Helen Millicer

Helen Millicer is a recognised, award-winning strategist on circularity and climate-ready future, with 30 years’ executive leadership experience in governance in government, industry associations and business.

As CEO of One Planet Consulting, she is engaged in relevant key projects, grant assessments and strategies. She is the principal author of the 2023 seminal report for the Australian Government recommending 10 major changes for the eco-design of all products into the Australian market and the chapter on plastics.

She is the principal advisor on forming Australia’s first industry Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) stewardship program for plastic packaging for the Australian Food and Grocery Council incorporating eco-modulated brand levies and recycled content. Positively, this is now the policy vision of the Australian Government for all packaging. She is also co-founder of an influential new program, ClimateWise Associations to help associations across Australia to become more active in planning for the impacts of climate change.

Helen has a long, distinguished career as director and chair of boards and sits on the inaugural Waste Resource Recovery Board for the Tasmanian Government, spearheading circularity investments for the island. Helen has national and global networks and insights, is winner of scholarships and a graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Churchill Trust Fellow and regular speaker at conferences and forums.