Disrupting the Single-Use Plastic Economy

Environmental health experts at Flinders University are advancing research into a highly sustainable wastewater recycling program by developing a cost-effective way to harvest microalgal biomass for use in biofuels and other applications. The high-rate algal pond (HRAP) model, recycling wastewater at two regional South Australian locations at Kingston-on-Murray and Peterborough with support from the Flinders University research team, uses algae and bacteria to treat the wastewater.

This paper explores the emergence of forms of ‘beyond farm’ assurance in the aquaculture sector, designed to increase the inclusion of smallholders and scale up environmental sustainability. The analysis reveals a ‘spectrum of assurance’, representing contrasting levels of trust in sustainable production and consumption. At one end of this spectrum attempts emerge to foster self-determined assurance models with internal verification that represent growing trust in the ability of subjects to organize sustainability improvements that extend beyond individual farms.