Innovatia

A key challenge is that, at scale, existing, cen- tralised recycling and waste treatment meth- ods often simply turn things like PET bottles back into PET bottles. What we need is a recy- cling and manufacturing system that can in- novate by reforming waste so that it can have more diverse and value-added end uses. Traditionally, recyclers have not seen them- selves as manufacturers, and manufacturers have not seen themselves as recyclers – but we need them to. If we accept that we need plas- tic, for instance, and that we want to keep it out of landfill and incinerators – which destroy the material forever – then we need a system that treats plastic as a renewable material. One emerging development is the SMaRT Cen- tre’s Microfactorie® technologies, which are modular-based and can reform waste into val- ue-added materials for reuse and remanufac- ture.This decentralised model, which brings together recycling and manufacturing capa- bilities, is designed to transform problematic waste materials – such as glass, textiles and plastics – into new, value-added materials and products. Examples include green ceram- ics for use in the built environment, and fila- ment for use by manufacturers as a feedstock and by other users who do 3D printing. Many of these innovations have occurred as a result of funding from the Australian Research Coun- cil (ARC), which also enabled the formation of the ARC Green Manufacturing Hub, hosted by the SMaRT Centre. In 2020, a new ARC Micro Recycling Hub was established by UNSW to research battery and consumer wastes, and seek to progress the science and technology of micro recycling and bring about more inno- vations. I have had the privilege of being ap-

REALIGNING RECYCLING WITH MANUFACTURING

We need to achieve an alignment of recycling and manufacturing and to start seeing waste as a valuable resource for many of the materials that we use as a society. By Professor Veena Sahajwalla A dopting and scaling truly circular economies – where materials are kept in use for as long as possible to max- In the area of waste management, an ever-in- creasing population, technological advances, variable consumption trends and inefficiency in use of materials are forcing us to a near-cri- sis point.

imise sustainability – will really only occur through such an alignment. With COVID-19 disrupting global supply chains and sparking questions about sovereign manufacturing capabilities, now is the time to adopt new technologies and practices that can help us to better manage our materials as resources, to reduce waste, and to create new supply chains and jobs. This alignment of recycling and manufacturing is a key focus of my Sus- tainable Materials Research and Technolo- gy (SMaRT) Centre at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. The SMaRT Centre created the phrase “micro recycling science” to describe its novel approach to research- ing innovative technologies and approaches related to reforming various waste streams into value-added materials and products. This process, which is achieved through de- centralised manufacturing, is beneficial to regional and rural communities.

Australia’s state governments agreed to ban the export of glass, plastic, paper and rubber tyres in January 2021, creating the need to start treating these waste items as the ‘renew- able resources’ that they are, feeding them back into manufacturing and diverting them from landfill, stockpiling and incinerators. “Now is the time to adopt new technol- ogies and practices that can help us to better manage our materials as resourc- es, to reduce waste, and to create new supply chains and jobs.”

INNOVATIA

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INNOVATIA

| Advanced Manufacturing

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