Climate variability, population growth, and ageing infrastructure are converging to place extraordinary pressure on Australia’s water sector. Meeting these challenges demands more than just delivering projects on time and on budget. It requires procurement and contracting models that embed resilience, drive innovation, and deliver value for communities over decades.

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and cloud computing is reshaping Australia’s infrastructure landscape, and with it comes an increasingly recognised challenge: water.

Across the globe and Australia-wide, data centres are emerging as one of the most water-intensive pieces of critical infrastructure. Their demand for cooling is placing increasing strain on already stretched urban water systems.

Sphere recently attended the Battery Recycling and Manufacturing Summit hosted by the Association for the Battery Recycling Industry .

The event brought together leaders across the battery value chain to discuss emerging challenges, trends and opportunities, including the recent assent of the Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act 2025 by the NSW Government.

Australia’s response to the Millennium Drought showed how early action, infrastructure investment, and community engagement can transform the way we manage vital resources. Today, the waste sector faces similar pressures in the context of rising consumption, declining landfill capacity, and the urgent need for more sustainable systems.

This article explores how proven principles from water reform, including proactive investment, policy alignment, and behavioural change, can be applied to reshape Australia’s waste sector.

Energy from waste (EfW) facilities are gaining traction in Australia due to landfill reduction policies and resource recovery goals. These facilities convert non-recyclable residual materials into energy, such as electricity, heat, or transport fuels, contributing to energy security while reducing methane emissions from landfill.

In December 2024, the Federal Government unveiled Australia’s Circular Economy Framework, presenting a national strategy to double the country's circularity rate by 2035 and shift from the traditional 'take-make-dispose' model to a sustainable circular system.

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) play an increasingly important role in advancing Australia’s environmental infrastructure, promoting collaboration between the public and private sectors to achieve sustainable outcomes across the energy, water, and waste sectors.

Sphere Infrastructure Partners provides a summary of recent state and territory budget announcements and their implications for the energy, water, and waste sectors. Discover more via the link below.

Sphere Infrastructure Partners proudly presents the inaugural edition of Sphere Insights, a series dedicated to exploring key developments in the energy, water, and waste sectors. In this first instalment, Partner and Co-founder Kate Dryden offers her expert perspectives on industry trends, challenges, and emerging opportunities

Download | Sphere’s presentation, delivered at the Enviro Conference 2024 by Associate, Ken Baumli.

Welcome to the final instalment of our three-part series on environmental infrastructure in Australia. In this update, we summarise Australia’s renewable energy landscape, focusing on the federal, state and territory governments' policies, strategies and programs to achieve the nation’s net zero objectives.

Download key highlights from Sphere’s presentation (Infrastructure Procurement), delivered at the Waste 2024 conference by Partner and Co-founder, Chris Godfrey.

There are various overarching policies put forth by the federal government to encourage investment in the resource recovery sector. We have sought to analyse the effectiveness and implementation of these policies., while highlight the strengths and shortcomings of the current investment policies. We assess whether these have translated into tangible outcomes, and if there has been progress in line with the set targets.

Welcome to the second instalment of our three-part series on environmental infrastructure in Australia. In this update, we share a select number of observations on the waste sector and focus on the broader strategies announced by state governments to encourage waste reuse and increase resource recovery rates.

Welcome to the first instalment of our three-part series on environmental infrastructure in Australia. In this article, we delve into the water sector, exploring recent developments in national water project upgrades and investments.

In the September article, Sphere Infrastructure Partners consider the suitedness of Alliance Contracting and the Delivery Partner Model to support the transformation of Australia’s infrastructure sector.

Key highlights from Sphere’s presentation (Challenges of procuring FOGO solutions), delivered in partnership with SOILCO, at the 2022 Australasian Waste and Recycling Expo.

Infrastructure NSW released the fourth edition of the State Infrastructure Strategy (2022-2042). The Strategy reinforces the importance of developing more resilient and climate independent water sources and introduces resource recovery infrastructure to the recommendations list.

Key highlights from Sphere’s presentation by Kate Dryden, in partnership with Beatty Hughes & Associates at Waste 2022.
Australia’s waste infrastructure landscape, regulatory barriers and enablers, the role of public–private partnerships, and financing considerations critical to project success.

Key highlights from the ‘AORA Workshop - FOGO by 2030’ session at the Waste 2022 Conference, with Boyd Russell participating as a Q&A panel member.