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https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/these-plastics-were-unrecyclable-an-australian-invention-is-changing-that-20240704-p5jqzq.html>
"Veena Sahajwalla has a knack for turning trash into treasure. In 2003, the
University of NSW engineering and science professor invented a pioneering
technology to make “green steel” by using old car tyres.
Her philosophy for her work at the university’s Centre for Sustainable
Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) is simple: “When we look at waste
materials, we don’t actually see it as waste,” she said. “We see it as a
resource.”
So it was no surprise that James Lancaster turned to Sahajwalla and her team to
help deal with the growing mountain of obsolete office equipment at his
electronic waste recycler, Renew IT.
Lancaster, the business’s chief executive, had a warehouse filled with
printers, computers and modems destined for landfill because they contained
hard plastics regarded as unrecyclable.
“Electronic goods like televisions, computers and printers are being produced
in ever-increasing numbers and often with increasingly short life cycles,” he
said. “When they do reach end of life, the waste industry’s solution has been
to deliver them to landfill.”
About 90 per cent of hard plastics found in electronic goods end up in a tip,
but Lancaster said that is not a solution that sits easily with him.
At one end of his company’s headquarters in Sydney’s Lane Cove – on a site that
formerly housed a fast fashion import business – sits a groundbreaking
invention that promises to give new life to hard plastics.
The Plastic Filament MICROfactorie, which Sahajwalla developed with her team,
transforms plastic parts from office equipment into long spools of filament
that can be fed into 3D printers.
“It has been years in the making with many ups and downs, and now seeing the
team at Renew IT and SMaRT operating the Filament Microfactorie and making it
work really makes you step back and smile,” Sahajwalla said."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
