Revolutionary recycling technology that transforms glass and textiles waste into ‘green ceramics’ has been integrated into a new smart apartment, unveiled in Sydney on Wednesday. 

The two-bedroom unit – part of Mirvac’s Pavilions development at Sydney Olympic Park – incorporates ground-breaking products repurposed from glass and textiles waste into internal building materials, including floor tiles, kitchen splashbacks and fascia, as well as a dining table, pendant light fittings and a standard lamp.

The remarkable technology is the brainchild of Professor Veena Sahajwalla, an esteemed waste minimisation warrior, scientist and inventor, and her team at the University of NSW SMaRT Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology.

Professor Sahajwalla said the green ceramic furnishings, constructed by the UNSW SMaRT Centre’s specialist MICROfactorie, showed what could be achieved when science, technology and industry worked collaboratively.

“Green ceramics is a product that we’ve invented at UNSW and it’s effectively got two components in it – waste glass and waste textiles,” she said.

“The green ceramics are really showing that when it comes to the building sector you really have got opportunities to look at materials that you might have never thought about before.

“The fact that you can incorporate waste textiles into these green ceramic products allows you to create something that’s an engineered product…something really strong and durable, (and) it’s giving us the opportunity to put it into all kinds of interior applications from flooring to walls and helping to solve this global challenge surrounding waste textiles.”

Dining-table-detail

The green ceramics technology has resulted in this stylish detail. Picture: Dave Wheeler


Mirvac sets a green example for the construction industry

In Australia, the building industry is responsible for around 60% of the country’s generated waste.

The Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment’s National Waste Report 2020 shows the construction and demolition industry was the largest contributor to waste in Australia in 2018-19, creating 27 million tonnes.

Professor Sahajwalla said the invention is about arresting the cycle of waste in the construction industry and Mirvac had been a leader in helping to foster market pull for the products across the sector.

“When you look at waste textiles, it’s a massive global challenge,” she said.

“This is where we need to acknowledge and move beyond traditional recycling.

“The SMaRT Centre can do the science but until we have market demand for products like this and people are committed to utilising green products, we’re not going to see growth of this kind of opportunity.

“It’s going to be inspiring to a whole range of other people and businesses who really look at this as a solution and see that we can all play a part in reducing our waste and put it into value-added production.”

Art-work-and-dining-table-from-green-ceramics

Artwork and dining table produced from green ceramics technology. Picture: Dave Wheeler


Mirvac general manager for residential development NSW, Toby Long, said the collaboration with Professor Sahajwalla reflected the company’s commitment towards zero waste by 2030.

In 2019, Mirvac and the SMaRT Centre launched a display apartment at Marrick & Co, the first One Planet Living residential community in NSW. The positive market response led to the Pavilions project where green ceramics have been used for the first time as a construction material in a residential setting.

“We as a building industry drag 92 billion tonnes of material out every year. The question is ‘how do we actually break that cycle?’ – and this is a great start,” Mr Long said.

“We’ve got a reputation and a name out there that can actually push some of the boundaries of these things to make them more commonplace.

Nicole Cox