Author: Marguerite Renouf & Gabriella Hooper
Marguerite Renouf comes full circle, returning to Lifecycles after 10 years as Head of Strategic Business Development
You've come full circle! What has drawn you back to Lifecycles after 10 years?
I worked part-time at Lifecycles for a period in 2013 being attracted to the interesting agri-food LCA work they were involved in. I moved back into academia after that but maintained a close relationship with Lifecycles ever since.
I’m very drawn to research, which is why I worked in academia (UQ and QUT) for over two decades. Universities are great places for knowledge building but are not the best fit for the highly applied work we do with LCA. When this opportunity with Lifecycles came up, I felt it was a fantastic time to get involved.
The sustainability service industry is extremely buoyant at the moment. We’ve all been waiting for this to come. It’s exciting to see the world is coming on board with sustainability thinking and assessment, and there are plenty of opportunities to help clients find really good solutions.
Lifecycles work with very influential clients, have great relationships with government bodies and are ahead of the game in LCA. Working for an organisation like Lifecycles allows me to get involved in leading the exciting innovation that the world is ready for.
What’s your new role and what will it entail?
In my role, I will lead the development and implementation of Lifecycles’ long-term strategic plans, focusing on driving business growth by leveraging my experience in circular economies and eco-efficiency. There are huge opportunities for Lifecycles in scaling up their existing services into new areas and I can really help facilitate this.
Mentoring young professionals will be another key focus. I’m really amazed at how many new people have come on board and how the company is growing. It’s important to nurture the younger generation as they are integral to ensuring a sustainable future, so I’m very excited to be a part of that growth.
Engaging with clients and stakeholders for LCA capability building and training will also be a part of our growth plan, for the business and the industry alike. I will be working with Tim to further develop the LCA training curriculum with professionals, PhD students and organisations taking on a sustainability role, plus working more closely with the LCA community through our ties with ALCAS.
What expertise can you bring?
My expertise lies in agriculture systems and biobased production. Biobased production is the area I’m most passionate about and a capacity that can be expanded in Lifecycles. We know that greater use of biomass is important for curbing climate change - but it's important to understand there are trade-offs. LCA can help us understand how to mitigate and balance those trade-offs.
I am also quite proficient in the translation of LCA into government and industry policy. Tim and the team have done some remarkable work that has been used by governments to make decisions. I would like to continue that work.
Furthermore, I’m seeing more examples of companies using eco-design for innovative products. Instead of using LCA to tick a box at the end, designers are increasingly using it very early on in the product development phase. Australia is lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to eco-design, so there’s a lot more we can do here with Lifecycles’ LCA tools.
And most importantly, if you were a song, what would you be?
It would be ”You should be dancing” by the Bee Gees.
Do you have anything else to add?
I’m keen for the opportunity to reconnect more widely with the Australian LCA community through this role, and very much looking forward to the ALCAS conference in July.
