Vaughan Levitzke

Vaughan Levitzke is a trained ecologist and is well known for his dedication to improving SA's waste and recycling sector, hitting many high-profile milestones such as expanding container deposits in 2002 while he was at the SA EPA (where he also regulated the tyre industry among others), and establishing a new government statutory authority Zero Waste SA 2003 (its inaugural Chief Executive). Vaughan oversaw the roll-out of Australia's first single-use plastic bags ban in 2009, the formation of Green Industries SA in 2016, the first circular economy strategy in Australia in 2017 and developed 4x 5-year state waste strategies, a new food waste strategy in 2021. He developed and introduced Australia's first ban on single-use plastic items and supervised the development of the first disaster waste strategy and the cleanup of the 2019-2020 bushfires in South Australia. He has also overseen investment grants in the recycling sector of hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure and research, the delivery of public education campaigns and has helped with the establishment of several new startup businesses. He has been involved with UN initiatives and forums over many years. In 2015 he received the Public Service Medal, for outstanding public service in waste management reform and policy. In December 2021 he received the international "lconSWM-CE Lifetime Achievement Award 2021" for Significant Contribution in the areas of Waste Management and Circular Economy and received life membership of KESAB also in 2021. Vaughan left government after 43 years and 17 years as a Chief Executive in July 2021. He has also been active in assisting the early development of extended producer responsibility schemes for solar panels and treated timber. He also chaired South Australia's Native Vegetation Council for two years. In 2024 he wrote a special chapter ‘What to do about Plastics’ for the SA EPA State of the Environment Report. Vaughan is now focusing on circular economy and extended producer responsibility through his consulting company, Circular Economy Advisory and is a member of the Commonwealth Government’s Ministerial Circular Economy Advisory Group.