Jim Frederickson is Senior Research Fellow with the Integrated Waste Systems research group at the Open University in the UK.  He is an elected Director of the Association for Organics Recycling (AFOR) and was a founder member of the Composting Association in 1995. Jim worked with the British Standards Institution on the development of the UK specification for compost (PAS 100) and in 2008 he was appointed to the Technical Advisory panel for the new Compost Quality Protocol and PAS100 certification scheme. In 2008/09 he was invited by B.S.I. to work on PAS110 which is the specification for anaerobic digestate. Jim has also been commissioned by WRAP and the UK Environment Agency to develop test methods for PAS100 and PAS110 and for evaluating the performance of mechanical and biological treatment (MBT) plants.

A major part of his university research has been devoted to understanding the relationship between waste biodegradability and environmental impact, in particular from greenhouse gas emissions. Jim is also a leading authority on the use of earthworms in waste and environmental management and currently holds a UK patent relating to earthworms and sustainable land restoration. He received world-wide fame on the internet two years ago when a popular waste management magazine carried the story “worms are destroying the planet” when he announced that composting systems using earthworms could emit the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide.

Chief Executive and ex-officio board member of Zero Waste SA.

Vaughan has been the Minister’s representative on the Board of Keep South Australia Beautiful for 10 years.  He is a member of the National Projects Group (KPG) established under Australia’s National Packaging Covenant. This group assesses and approves projects for industry funding, focussing on packaging waste reduction and recycling.

Prior to this, Vaughan spent 10 years with the South Australian Environment Protection Authority. His role focussed on regulation in the waste sector (recycling, tyres, composting), litter policy development, expansion of container deposit legislation. He was also responsible for managing eco-efficiency and industry sustainability programs and grant schemes. 

Vaughan has completed a Management Development Programme and a Bachelor of Science, majoring in botany and zoology, specialising in ecology, both at the University of Adelaide.

Assistant Secretary, Coverage and Market Development Branch - Department of Climate Change, Australian Federal Government

Dr Bygrave is Assistant Secretary, Coverage and Market Development in the Emissions Trading Division of the Department of Climate Change. He has held senior management positions in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Bureau of Rural Sciences, Department of the Environment, Water and Heritage and Australian Greenhouse Office.

Stephen has a PhD in resource and environmental management focusing on renewable energy technologies in village communities in the Pacific Islands.  Between 2002 and 2004 Stephen worked on international emissions trading at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. 

Executive Director | Service Delivery
Department of Infrastructure & Planning

Prior to joining the Department in October 2007, Peta worked for Brisbane City Council (BCC) as the Manager, CEO Support & Regional Collaboration which provided strategic policy advice to not only BCC’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) but also the former 17 other south-east Queensland (SEQ) CEOs as part of the SEQ CEOs Regional Collaboration Steering Committee (RCSC).  In this position she was responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership to ensure the agenda planning processes for BCC’s Civic Cabinet, Executive Management Team and the SEQ CEOs RCSC addressed priority issues in a timely manner.  Prior to her employment with BCC Peta was employed as the Manager, Environment & Health for the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ). 

Peta has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree with majors in Geographical Sciences and Government from the University of Queensland, a Masters of Science in Environmental Management from Griffith University, and a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration from the Queensland University of Technology.

She is a member of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) and Local Government Managers Association (Queensland).