22
2021
On the horizon
‘Alignment needed for recycling
and manufacturing’
COVID-19 has disrupted global supply chains and generated strong debate about sovereign manufacturing
capability, says Professor Veena Sahajwalla, director of the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and
Technology (SMaRT) at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
T
his issue of nations like Australia ‘stand-
ing on our own two feet’ by not having to
rely on global supply chains for certain
materials and goods has political and business
leaders asking whether countries can produce
the materials and goods they need.
One of the solutions I see is the much-
needed alignment of recycling and manu-
facturing where used or unwanted materials
(erroneously called ‘waste’) are circulated
back into manufacturing as the renewable
resources they really are. This alignment of
recycling and manufacturing is logical and
probably inevitable.
Two new recently-published scientific pa-
pers from my Sustainable Materials Research
and Technology (SMaRT) Centre at UNSW
Sydney show the science and technology be-
hind this concept.
They explain how we have been developing
new ways to address society’s growing waste
and recycling challenges with scientifically-
developed technological innovations that can
boost manufacturing capability, thereby cre-
ating jobs and economic prosperity while en-
hancing environmental and social outcomes.
Novel approach
The SMaRT Centre created the phrase ‘mi-
crorecycling science’ to describe this novel ap-
proach to researching innovative approaches
and technologies to reform various waste
streams into value-added materials and prod-
ucts. For instance, Australia’s governments
have agreed to ban the exporting of glass,
plastic, paper and rubber tyres from January
2021, such that we need to start treating these
items as the ‘renewable resources’ they really
area and feed them back into manufacturing.
Ever-increasing population, technological
advancement, variable consumption trends
and inefficient use of materials are forcing us
near to a crisis point in terms of waste man-
agement. Scientifically, we are developing
new technologies not only to reform complex
waste items into new, value-added materials
to help address this ‘sovereign capability’ is-
sue, but also to do so through decentralised
22-23_horizon-veena.indd 22 09-09-20 09:05
