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Dr Atiq Zaman

  • Dr Atiq Zaman is a circular economy and zero-waste expert with substantial experience in demand-driven research, partnering with various national and international stakeholders, including governments, businesses, industries, communities and global agencies. The following highlights his career:

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    • He is recognised as one of the world's ‘Top 2% Scientists’ by Stanford/Elsevier. He is ranked as the 2nd and 3rd most highly cited researcher in the fields of ‘zero waste’ and ‘sustainable waste management’ on Google Scholar, respectively.

    • Secured approximately $4.5 million in grants (85% for Research, 15% for Teaching, and 4% for Scholarship)

    • Published more than 47 peer-reviewed articles with 66 co-authors, 20% of whom are international collaborators, including in the Journal of Cleaner Production (IF=13.1), which is ranked at the top of his discipline.

    • High citation numbers: 4,836 in Google Scholar (H-index 30) and 2,205 in SCOPUS (H-index 22), with a Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) of 2.62, indicating 2.6 times more citations than peers.

    • Taught and coordinated over eight units in multidisciplinary fields, including construction management, environmental science, and engineering, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels (online and in-class).

    • Supervised six PhD students (one received the Chancellor’s Commendation), ten Master’s, and fifteen Honours students.

    • Served on various prestigious technical working groups, including the United Nations Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition -UNCEET (2022-2025) and the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (2022-2023)

    • Received several awards, including the 2024 Humanities PVC Award for Industry Partnership and Engagement, the 2024 Humanities Initiating and Sustaining Research Award, and the AUBEA 2018 Best Paper Award in Sustainability

    • Organised three international conferences as the Founding Co-Director of the Global South Nexus (GSN).

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    Awards and Recognitions

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    • 2025: Being listed in the world's Top 2% Scientists by Stanford/Elsevier since 2022.

    • 2024: Faculty of Business and Law Global Positioning Award, Curtin University, Australia.

    • 2024: Humanities PVC Award for Industry Partnership and Engagement, Curtin University, Australia.

    • 2024: Humanities Initiating and Sustaining Research Award, Curtin University, Australia. 

    • 2024: Finalist of the Curtin Awards for Research Excellence (Partnership), Curtin University, Australia.

    • 2023: Pardee Keynote Travel Scholarship, The Geological Society of America, USA.

    • 2018: The AUBEA 2018 Best Paper Award in Sustainability, AUBEA, Singapore.

    • 2011: The University President Scholarship (UPS), the University of South Australia, Australia.

    • 2010: Bo Rydin Travel Scholarship, Bo Rydin, Stockholm, Sweden​

  • Dr Zaman has gained multidisciplinary knowledge and skills through his various academic degrees and training from prestigious international institutes in Australia, Sweden, Denmark, the USA and Bangladesh. The following shows his academic credentials:

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    • 2015 (December): PhD. in Sustainable Waste Management, University of South Australia.

    • 2009 (November): M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Infrastructure, KTH, Sweden.

    • 2005 (February): BSc. In Civil and Environmental Engineering, SUST, Bangladesh.

    • 2010: EASEWASTE Specialised Life Cycle Assessment Training at the Denmark Technical University (DTU), Copenhagen, Denmark.

    • 2009: Intern at the United Nations Headquarters under the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) in New York, USA.

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    ​Professional Appointments

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    • 2022- Current: Associate Professor, School of Design and the Built Environment (DBE) and the Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute, Curtin University, Western Australia.

    • 2021: Senior Lecturer, DBE and CUSP, Curtin University, Western Australia.

    • 2017: Lecturer, DBE and CUSP, Curtin University, Western Australia.

    • 2015: Research Associate at the School of Built Environment, Curtin University, Western Australia.

    • 2014: Research Assistant at the Zero Waste SA Research Centre for Sustainable Design and Behaviour at the University of South Australia.

    • 2007: Environmental Code of Conduct Auditor in Hennes & Mauritz, H&M (Puls Trading Far East Ltd., Bangladesh), to oversee the environmental compliance, health and safety at the factories and reporting H&M’s supply chain emissions.

    • 2006: Environmental Engineer at Nimble Technologies Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh, to conduct environmental impact assessment and prepare the environmental impact statement and review the key design parameters and civil and environmental design of the effluent treatment plant (ETP) for various textile factories. 

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    Specialisation and Area of Interests

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    Dr Zaman's research centres on promoting the circular economy to minimise waste and enhance sustainability within the built environment. By collaborating with communities, industry, and international organisations, his work focuses on developing and implementing innovative solutions that address critical global challenges, such as waste management, plastic pollution, and decarbonisation in the built environment. 

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    The inspiration behind Dr Zaman's research stems from the pressing global waste crisis and the ongoing climate emergency. Motivated by the urgent need to find sustainable strategies to combat waste and resource depletion, his passion lies in fostering collaboration across diverse sectors and stakeholders, including Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, industries, governments, and global organisations. His research aims to drive impactful change at both local and global levels, contributing meaningfully to the circular economy and the broader climate agenda.  

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    Dr Zaman’s research focuses on systems thinking of the material circularity within the natural and built environment through various circular economy strategies to ensure resource circularity within the system with low-to-no leakage and zero waste.

    Teaching Interests and Area of Supervision

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    • As a passionate Teacher, Dr Zaman enjoys being in the classroom. He taught multidisciplinary areas, including Construction Management (BLDG1003, BLDG1010, BLDG2031, BLDG3016), Environmental and Climate Emergency (SUST5024), and Molecular and Life Sciences (ENST3004). His teaching interests cover multidisciplinary areas of sustainability in the built environments: energy-efficient building design, climate-positive construction techniques, low-carbon building materials, circular economy and zero waste practice, energy transition and technology and knowledge transfer between the global North and South. His teaching pedagogies are underpinned by research-informed teaching and problem-based learning, where students gain the most up-to-date knowledge from research and industry practices to prepare them for industry-ready roles in their relevant fields. Thus, he regularly invites industry experts and organises field visits for the students to gain practical hands-on experiences.
       

    • He has successfully supervised six HDR students, one of whom earned the Chancellor’s Commendation. Currently, he is supervising seven PhD students. As of 2025, He has completed supervision of a total 10 master’s students of the Environment and Climate Emergency and over 15 undergraduate students from Construction Management and 1 from Urban Planning. He supervised and mentored his undergraduate and master's students to pursue the next level of education to excel in their expertise.  Two of his master’s students have successfully secured RTP scholarships to pursue their PhD under his mentorship, demonstrating his ability to positively influence the development of the next generation of academic leaders.
       

    • In addition, he completed supervising five parliamentary Internship topics (Work-Integrated Learning), which were co-designed and collaborated with members of parliament from the Western Australian Government. The internship reports serve as a reference document for developing relevant policies.

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    • As part of Dr Zaman’s Associate Professor position at Curtin University, he has been involved in various leadership roles in funded research programs and non-funded professional services. Dr Zaman’s notable leadership roles, include the Circular Economy Coordinator of the SMEP Program at UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD, Switzerland), member of the UN Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition UN-CEET (USA), Curtin Node Leader of the NESP2 Program (Australia), Circular Economy Theme Research Leader of the SBEnrc-Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (Australia), Circular Economy Theme Leader of the CIET- Curtin Institute of Energy Transition (Australia), Member of Circular Australia (Australia),  Steering Committee Member of the CEWA- Circular Economy WA (Australia), Co-Director of the GSN-Global South Nexus (Australia). The following lists the key leadership roles and professional services:

    • 2025 (April- Sep): Circular Economy Coordinator of the SMEP Program at the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The SMEP program is funded by the UK-FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office).

    • 2023- present: Member of the United Nations Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition (UN-CEET) to contribute to various issues and policy papers relating to circular economy, energy transition and decarbonisation, contributing to the UN Secretary-General’s goal of building a coalition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

    • 2021-2027: Curtin Node Leader of the NESP2 project. Support Node’s researchers, prepare financial reports, design research projects in consultation with the funding bodies and end-users, and complete projects within the timeline.

    • 2024- continuing: Circular Economy Research Leader, SBEnrc project. Co-develop project ideas with the funding bodies, secure funds, coordinate project activities, complete within the timeline, and disseminate to the wider audiences.

    • 2023-present: Circular Economy Theme Leader of Curtin Institute of Energy Transition (CIET), working with energy experts to translate circular economy benefits concerning energy transition and decarbonisation discourses.

    • 2025 (January-December): Member of the Circular Australia’s Taskforce to provide expert feedback in various circular economy initiatives in Australia.

    • 2023-2025): Steering Committee Member of the Circular Economy Western Australia (CEWA), supporting circular economy knowledge sharing events for the relevant stakeholders in Western Australia.

    • 2021-continuing: Founding Co-director of the Global South Nexus (GSN), a research cluster to promote dialogue and foster knowledge sharing between researchers in the Global North and the Global South.

    • 2020-2022: Course co-ordinator of the Environment and Climate Emergency post-graduate program. Reviewed curriculum and improved to meet graduate capabilities and supported students, academic and professional staff. 

    • 2020-2024: EPA-Ireland’s Project Grant Evaluator and Steering Committee Member to evaluate project proposals based on EPA-Ireland’s evaluation criteria to fund the most suitable projects and provide support during the project execution stages. 

    • 2020-continuing: Member of the Scopus-indexed journals’ Editorial Board, including Urban Science (MDPI Open Access),  PLOS Sustainability and Transformation (PLOS Open Access) and Frontiers in Sustainability (Open Access), and managing articles to ensure academic integrity, rigour and meeting journal publication requirements. Also, as a Guest Editor, I contributed to the 3 Special Issues under Urban Science and MDPI.

    • 2015- continuing: Examiner of PhD and MPhil theses and completed about five examinations from Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh and an Academic Reviewer for several Q1 journals, including the Journal of Cleaner Production and Sustainability, ensuring academic integrity, rigour and meeting journal publication requirements.

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    Professional Affiliation and Leadership Roles:

  • Core Funders and Project Collaborators of the Demand-Driven Research Projects:

     

    Over the past 6-7 years, Dr Zaman has successfully partnered with 32 core funders and collaborators in Australia (88%) and Overseas (12%), including the Federal Government of Australia and Bangladesh, UN Trade and Development (Switzerland) and UK Funding agency (UK). As well as various government agencies, national funding bodies, industry and business entities, academic institutes, professional bodies and community organisations (including the Aboriginal Community in Australia).

     

    Dr Zaman has secured approximately $4.5 million in grants, with 85% of that for Research, 15% for Teaching, and 4% for scholarship. His roles in the demand-driven research grants comprise 58% as a Principal Investigator and 42% as a Co-Investigator. The numbers highlight his core funded and collaborative partnerships as of early 2025 in various projects.

    Staholder Categories
    Numbers
    Community Organisation

    3

    Local Government Agency

    2

    International Funding Body

    2

    National Funding Body

    3

    Professional Body

    1

    Academic Institute

    9

    Industry/ Business

    3

    State Government Agency

    6

    Federal Government Agency

    3

    Federal Government - International

    1

    UN Agency- International

    1

    Total

    34

    Selected Industry Funded Projects

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    The Sustainable Communities and Waste (SCaW) Hub is part of the second phase of the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program (NESP). The Hub has been tasked to research ways to reduce the effects of plastic, support sustainable people-environment interactions and offer options to minimise impacts of hazardous substances and pollutants, using its cutting edge technical capabilities, particularly in the fields of waste and materials processing.

    The Hub is hosted by UNSW and led by Australian Research Council Laureate Professor Veena Sahajwalla, a materials scientist, engineer, inventor and a founding Director of UNSW’s Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT). It is a consortium of five world-class research institutions: UNSW Sydney, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Monash University (MU), Curtin University (CU), and the University of Tasmania (UTas), and various industry, government and community partners.

    Dr Zaman has been involved as the Curtin Node Leader of the Sustainable Communities and Waste (SCaW) Hub. For more Information, visit the program website:

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    NESP2: https://www.nespsustainable.edu.au/

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    The Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBE Australia) is the successor to the CRC for Construction Innovation. Established on 1 January 2010, SBE Australia is a key research facilitator between industry, government, and research organisations servicing the built environment industry. The three research streams focus on environmental, social, and economic sustainability, areas identified by national industry stakeholders as the key areas that will drive productivity and industry development in the built environment industry.

    Dr Zaman has been involved as the Circular Economy Theme Research Leader of the SBErnc Program. For more Information, visit the program website:

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    SBEnrc: https://sbenrc.com.au/

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    The Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP) programme has been established by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and implemented in partnership with UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).  The programme aims to address the environmental and health impacts of the manufacturing sector in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and some of the most pressing challenges associated with plastic pollution.  FCDO has committed £24.6 million to deliver research and related interventions to meet programme objectives. The SMEP programme was commissioned in mid-2019 and will run until October 2026.

    Dr Zaman has been involved as the Circular Economy Coordinator of the SMEP Program and the recipient of the project funds. For more Information, visit the program website:

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    UNCTAD-SMEP Projects: https://smepprogramme.org/

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    As cities begin integrating sustainable practices into long-term planning, more rigorous and comprehensive measures are needed to understand the complex ties between land-use and transport choices. This is where PATREC’s research and expertise in the connected spaces of transport and land use planning can offer insight into trends, patterns and processes and inform innovative solutions that fit the future.

    The Planning and Transport Research Centre (PATREC) is a collaboration of leading experts and researchers from the University of Western Australia, Curtin University, the Department of Transport, Main Roads Western Australia, the Western Australian Planning Commission and the Western Australian Local Government Association.

    Dr Zaman and the Research Team were the recipients of the PATREC project funds. For more Information, visit the program website:

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    PATREC: https://patrec.org/

    Projects’ End-users and Extended Partners of the Demand-Driven Research Projects:

    As part of the Demand-Driven Research Projects, Dr Zaman involved end-users and potential project partners in the project design, execution, validation of the findings, and dissemination of project findings after completion. He has collaborated with 67 stakeholders, of which 19 (28%) were international (including UN agencies) from 10 countries. The notable end-users and collaborators include UN agencies like FAO, UNCTAD, UK-FCDO, Pure Earth Bangladesh, Pacific Community (New Caledonia), Engineers Australia, Infrastructure Sustainability Council (Australia), Chalmers University, Gothenburg City Council (Sweden), Stanford Business School and George Town University (USA).

    Stakeholder Categories
    Description
    UN Agency

    2

    International Funding Body

    3

    NGOs

    3

    Academic Institute

    16

    Industry/ Business

    12

    Professional Body

    6

    National Funding Body

    3

    Community Organisation

    4

    Local Government Agency

    4

    State Government Agency

    10

    Federal Government Agency

    4

    Total

    67

    Selected Non-funded Extended End-users

  • Dr Zaman is one of the early researchers in Australia and internationally, contributing to the zero-waste discourse by developing notions, taxonomies, principles, strategies, and assessment tools through various research projects and outputs, which have put him among the world's leading researchers on zero waste. His publications on defining zero waste, zero waste cities and the Zero Waste Index (ZWI), measuring zero waste performance, and the authored book on zero waste practices, are considered key academic references for academic, non-academic, industry, or community audiences. The following highlights his key contributions through his scholarly research outputs:

    Books and Conference (selected)
     

    Indicators
    Numbers
    Author book

    02

    Edited book (Conference Proceeding)

    01 (AUBEA 2018)

    Book chapters

    09

    Industry reports

    11 (including an UN Policy Brief for COP29)

    Peer-reviewed journals

    49

    Key conference presentations

    22 (14 as an Invited Speaker/Keynote)

    Media commentary

    09

    Guest Editor (Special Issues)

    04

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    Citations: 5102

    H-index  : 31

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    Citations: 2346

    H-index  : 24

    Selected Scholarly Publications:

     

    Google Scholar

    0000-0001-8985-0383

     

    1. Zaman, A. and Ahsan, T. (December 2019). Zero-Waste: Reconsidering Waste Management for the Future, Routledge, London, eBook ISBN9781315436296. (A-ranked publisher) 

    2. Shooshtarian, S., Maqsood, T., Zaman, A., Caldera, S., Ryley, T., & Wong, P. S. (2024). Enhancing the Use of Products with Recycled Contents in the Australian Construction Industry. Nova Science Publication.  

    3. Zaman, A. (2022). Zero-waste: a new sustainability paradigm for addressing the global waste problem. The Vision Zero Handbook: Theory, Technology and Management for a Zero Casualty Policy, Edvardsson Björnberg, K., Belin, M.-Å., Hansson, S.O., Tingvall, C. (Eds.), Springer International Publishing, London, ISBN 978-3-030-76506-4. (A-ranked publisher) 

    4. Zaman, A. U. and Lehmann S. (2013). The Zero Waste Index: A Performance Measurement Tool for Waste Management Systems in a 'Zero Waste City'. Journal of Cleaner Production, 50 (2013) 123-132. (Impact Factor: 9.29, Q1)  

    5. Zaman, A. U. (2016). A comprehensive study of the environmental and economic benefits of resource recovery from global waste management systems, Journal of Cleaner Production, 124, 41-50. (Impact Factor: 9.29, Q1) 

    6. Zaman A. and Newman, P. (2021) Plastics: are they part of the zero-waste agenda or the toxic-waste agenda?. Sustainable Earth, 4(1), 1-16. (Open access) 

    7. Shooshtarian, S., Maqsood, T., Wong, P. S., Zaman, A., Caldera, S., & Ryley, T. (2024). Utilisation of certification schemes for recycled products in the Australian building and construction sector. Business Strategy and the Environment, 33(3), 1759-1777. 

    8. Zaman, A. (2022). Waste Management 4.0: An Application of a Machine Learning Model to Identify and Measure Household Waste Contamination—A Case Study in Australia. Sustainability, 14(5), 3061. (Impact Factor: 3.25 Q1). 

    9. Zaman, A., Caceres Ruiz, A. M., Shooshtarian, S., Ryley, T., Caldera, S., & Maqsood, T. (2023). Development of the circular economy design guidelines for the Australian built environment sector. Sustainability, 15(3), 2500. (Impact Factor: 3.25 Q1).

    10. Xing, K., W. Qian, and Zaman, A. U. (2016). “Development of a cloud-based platform for footprint assessment in green supply chain management”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 139: 191-203. (Impact Factor: 9.29, Q1)

    Selected Projects and Industry Reports

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    Others

    Energy Rating Labels and Potential for Energy

    Savings Across the Global South

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    PATREC

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  • “In the last five years, Dr Zaman has demonstrated a significant global outreach and engagement (mostly non-funded, volunteered and professional engagements), with 89 stakeholders, of which 52 are international (58%) from 19 different countries, covering almost all continents”.

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    The notable community engagement and outreach includes contributing to the UNFCCC Official Side Event in COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt,  UN Policy Issue for the UN Secretary-General at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, and being involved in 5 international conferences and 2 UNCTAD-SMEP Side Events in Australia, Malaysia and India and 4 communities organisations (including 2 international island communities and 2 Australian Aboriginal community organisations) and 3 primary schools in Western Australia during the Face of Waste Exhibition.

    Online Broadcast and Media Interview
    Curtin Radio Interview on COP29 Reflections
    00:00 / 20:28
    Affiliated Organisations
    Gallery
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