Dr Monique Retamal is a Research Director and Program Lead for Resource Stewardship at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney.
She has a background in environmental engineering and social research and fifteen years’ experience undertaking research into sustainable urban systems, including for water, sanitation and solid waste. She specialises in sustainable systems of consumption and production in the Asia-Pacific region. Her research is currently focused on circular supply chains and environmental governance for plastics and textiles. Monique is currently leading UTS’s contribution to an international research collaboration between six research institutions in India and Australia to identify pathways for a circular economy for plastics in India, which includes a focus on policy frameworks and circular business models.
Monique recently undertook research on environmental governance of the textiles and garment industry in Asia for the International Labour Organisation (ILO). In 2020, Monique led a research project for the Australian Government investigating the impact of the international trade in waste plastics on marine plastic pollution in the Asia-Pacific region. Monique’s interdisciplinary PhD investigated the sustainability of collaborative consumption in Southeast Asian cities, which involved interviews with over seventy businesses, policymakers and sustainability experts in the region.

Monique is a Board Member of the Asia Pacific Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production (APRSCP).