ARC
Sustainability Lunch 26
Brought to you by Australia Post
Closing the loop:
Turning circularity into competitive advantage
ARC’s Sustainability Lunch in Melbourne brings together leaders from Australia’s retail and consumer goods sector to explore circularity within retail.
Retailers are increasingly challenged to rethink how products and packaging are designed, sourced, consumed and recovered as sustainability expectations evolve across government, customers and investors. At the same time, businesses are juggling a range of challenges including affordability, competitiveness, and the rise of agentic AI.
This event will explore:
- How retailers are redesigning products, packaging, supply chains and business models to reduce waste, improve resource efficiency, and unlock new circular commercial opportunities.
- Moving beyond compliance-led approaches to embed sustainability and circular economy principles into long-term commercial strategy, operational decision-making and customer engagement.
- Lessons in Australia and internationally on effective product stewardship, Extended Producer Responsibility, and circular economy policy design.
- Real-world implementation, scalable solutions, evolving regulation and the role for industry leadership to drive meaningful and measurable outcomes.
This event is brought to you by ARC’s strategic partner Australia Post.
Event speakers
Alice Kuepper
Coalition for Sustainable Solutions (COFOSS)
Head of sustainability
Winning Group
Barry Cosier
Soft Plastic Stewardship Australia (SPSA)
Glenn Fahey
Richard Pittard
Australia Post
Event details
Event Tickets -
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Get your event tickets today!
Early Bird - Single Ticket
29 July 2026 @ 11:30 am – 02:30 pm
Non Member: $249.00
Single Ticket
29 July 2026 @ 11:30 am – 02:30 pm
Speaker lineup
You will hear insights from an exceptional speaker lineup including:
Alice Kuepper
Coalition for Sustainable Solutions (COFOSS)
Head of Sustainability
Winning Group
Alice Kuepper
Alice Kuepper is a Founding Board Director of the Coalition for Sustainable Solutions (COFOSS) and a recognised sustainability leader within Australia’s retail and consumer goods sector, known for driving practical, industry-led approaches to circularity and sustainable business transformation.
In addition to her industry leadership roles, Alice is Head of Sustainability at Winning Group, where she established the organisation’s first sustainability function, embedding ESG into business strategy and operations and helping the business stay ahead of evolving regulatory, customer and stakeholder expectations.
Her work spans responsible sourcing, climate action, circularity, community engagement and reconciliation, with a strong focus on collaboration and scalable outcomes across industry. Alice also serves on the Circular Australia Industry Taskforce, contributing to national conversations around circular economy policy and implementation.
She holds a Master’s in Sociology from the University of Munich and a Certificate in Sustainable Business Strategy from Harvard Business School, bringing a global perspective and a commercially grounded approach to sustainability leadership. Barry Cosier
Chief Executive Officer
Soft Plastic Stewardship Australia (SPSA)
Barry Cosier
Barry Cosier has over 30 years’ experience in both the Resource Recovery and Recycling Industry and in the Food and Grocery Industry. Like many, he started his working career packing shelves in supermarkets while at university. Since then, he has worked for multinational grocery companies, was CEO of a privately owned Australian food manufacturing company and represented small to medium enterprises on the Australian Food and Grocery Council board.
He then moved to the Resource Recovery industry and was involved in Council contracts, collections, MRF processing and was a member of various state government Industry Advisory Panels.
While Director of Sustainability at the Australian Food and Grocery Council he led the development of the National Plastics Recycling Scheme (NPRS). was an Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) board member, and a member of the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) Resource Recovery Reference Groups.
Glenn Fahey
Australian Retail Council (ARC)
Glenn Fahey
Glenn Fahey is the Chief Policy Officer and Chief Economist at the Australian Retail Council, where he leads policy and economic analysis.
Prior to joining the Australian Retail Council, Glenn held senior policy leadership roles in Australia’s think-tank sector, as well as holding research and policy positions at the Australian Treasury, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Institute for Public Policy and Governance.
Glenn is a regular contributor to public debate through media commentary, opinion writing and stakeholder engagement, and is known for translating research into practical policy solutions.
He holds qualifications in economics and public policy and maintains active interests in applied research, governance and institutional reform.
Richard Pittard
Australia Post
Richard Pittard
Richard is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Australia Post; a government business enterprise that plays a critical role connecting communities across Australia. Leading the team responsible for developing and embedding the sustainability strategy, Richard drives the integration of sustainability priorities within the enterprise strategy to achieve lasting change.
With almost 30 years’ experience dedicated to sustainability, climate change and environment, Richard’s background spans various roles in listed organisations, professional services as well as industrial and consumer product sectors
Richard is a passionate believer that integrating sustainability values and principles into business strategy is essential to creating long-term value and resilience.
Agenda
Full agenda will be announced shortly.
11:30 AM
Registration, Refreshments and Networking
12.00 PM
Welcome to Country
12:05 PM
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Nicole Sheffield, Board Chair, Australian Retail Council
12:10 PM
Fireside Chat: From Shop Floor to CEO: Amanda Bardwell on Leadership and The Retail Fundamentals
Chris Rodwell, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Retail Council (ARC)
Amanda Bardwell, Group CEO & Managing Director Australian Food, Woolworths Group
1:00 PM
Fireside Chat:
Nicole Sheffield, Board Chair, Australian Retail Council (ARC)
Erica Berchtold, Chief Commercial Officer, David Jones
2:00 PM
Event concludes
Event partner
About Australia Post
We’re Australia’s oldest continually operating organisation. We contribute to Australia’s economic growth and prosperity and reinvest in the community to advance our enterprise purpose: Helping our people, customers and communities deliver a better future. Everyone, Everywhere, Every day.
