Anchored in sustainability: Transitioning coal ports to circular economy precincts

Abstract

As global efforts to decarbonise intensify, export-oriented coal ports increasingly face significant risks associated with declining throughput, asset stranding, and local economic disruption. This thesis addresses such challenges by reconceptualising coal ports as potential sites for circular economy precincts (CEPs) that harness existing infrastructure and industrial linkages to establish novel, low carbon value chains. The study presents an integrated empirical and modelling program focused on the Port of Newcastle (PON), Australia, the world’s largest coal port, as a critical case for evaluating transition pathways, policy options, and the appropriate sequencing of interventions. In doing so, it provides foundational practical guidance to a literature that has thus far offered few comprehensive analyses regarding the diversification of fossil fuel ports in a circular economy direction. The research is oriented around a central question: What are the mechanisms for the successful diversification of coal ports towards the circular economy? This is explored through three Sub-questions: (1) What are potential circular economy ecosystems for coal ports? (2) What key actions are required to transition coal ports towards the circular economy? and (3) What policy measures facilitate a successful transition to the circular economy for coal ports? The research design acknowledges considerable heterogeneity across ports in terms of geography, infrastructure, and regional demand. It structures the inquiry to move from the identification of viable futures to the delineation of transition pathways, and finally to the specification of enabling policy frameworks.