Amid a growing focus on the impact of the waste we all produce, Seven House hosted a discussion on the positive sustainable actions we can all take to protect our critical resources. The session explored the critical components of a better recycling system – from the approach to making and using packaging, to the efforts underway to ensure we are all doing our bit to recycle right and create a circular system.

How are Australian consumers and Australian brands tackling these challenges? What is the role of education, awareness and behaviour change in the community? How can new technologies and innovation support these efforts?

On the eve of Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week, Seven and Planet Ark brought together experts in consumer packaging, sustainability and waste management to discuss how Australia is tackling this vitally important issue.

Speakers

Larry Emdur

Host of The Morning Show, Seven

Larry Emdur is an acclaimed presenter, currently hosting Australia’s #1 morning television show The Morning Show, and Australia’s #1 game show, The Chase Australia.

Throughout his 30-year career, Larry has consistently demonstrated a rare combination of professionalism, warmth and charisma; earning him the love and loyalty of viewers of all ages.

Larry’s versatility as a presenter has seen him work across a wide range of genres – from entertainment and lifestyle to news and current affairs. No matter the subject matter, Larry is always engaging and informative, delivering information in a clear, concise, and entertaining manner.

Larry has been instrumental in the success of both The Morning Show and The Chase Australia. His chemistry with The Morning Show co-host Kylie Gillies is the reason the show is celebrating 16 years of the duo together on air, as they switch seamlessly from breaking news to light and bright banter.

This year alone, Larry has been part of rolling coverage of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II’s passing; was guest reporter for 7NEWS Spotlight; and showed his heart as the host of Seven’s annual Good Friday Appeal (a fundraising telethon for Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne which this year raised a record $23 million).

Rebecca Gilling

CEO, Planet Ark

Rebecca trained as an actor at the Independent Theatre School in Sydney and worked mainly in film and television for nearly thirty years. Career highlights include the feature film Stone (1974), the TV miniseries Return to Eden (1983), and TV lifestyle show Our House (1992-2001).

Rebecca retrained as a social scientist and joined Planet Ark in 2002 as their public spokesperson and Special Projects Manager. She further qualified in Video Editing and Human Resource Management, and later gained a Master’s Degree in Sustainable Development with a particular focus on organisational change for sustainability and individual and group motivation. In 2021 Rebecca was appointed as Co-CEO, joining the Planet Ark Board as Executive Director, and became CEO in February 2023.

Planet Ark’s strategy under Rebecca’s leadership is focused on three spheres of activity: carbon neutrality, circular economy and connecting people with nature.

In her spare time, Rebecca is a keen gardener, bird watcher and enthusiastic amateur wildlife photographer.

Brooke Donnelly

General Manager – Sustainability, Coles

Brooke is the General Manager, Sustainability for Coles Group.
Brooke has over 25 years’ experience working across sustainability, circular economy, recycling, product stewardship and stakeholder collaboration.
In her current role, Brooke leads the Coles teams to deliver on circular economy activities, climate and energy initiatives, sustainability reporting and engagement across all Coles businesses.

During her career Brooke has been responsible for the strategic design and delivery of a range of strategic national and cross regional initiatives such as the Product Stewardship Cluster, the 2025 National Packaging Targets, the Australasian Recycling Label and the ANZPAC Plastics Pact.

Brooke has worked across a diverse range of recycling, product stewardship and sustainability organisations such as, APCO, Visy Industrial Packaging, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, and ANZRP.

Paul Riley

CEO & Founder, Samsara Eco

Paul Riley has 30 years of senior experience in venture capital and private equity business building. As one of the earliest participants in the Venture Capital and Private Equity market in Australia, he spent 12 years with the leader in early-stage investments, AMIL (subsequently renamed Champ Private Equity).

As CEO and Director of one of Australia’s largest complementary medicine contract manufacturers, he secured significant long-term revenue contracts with a value of more than $100m, ensuring the business’s profitability. This included building a state of the art TGA licenced facility, raising $50m in equity and debt to restructure the balance sheet, eventually leading the business’s sale to a major offshore investment group.

Paul has been a mentor of the Western Sydney University Global Leader Experience and an ongoing mentor of the “Birdlings” programme promoting women in entrepreneurship at a Sydney-based high school.

In 2020, Paul felt compelled to divert his expertise to the plastics crisis. He spent a year seeking out viable solutions in the R&D sector before committing to the incredible promise of infinite enzymatic recycling.