Facts & figures
Australia's waste problem
- 64m tonnes waste generated in Australia per year
- 37m tonnes waste sent to landfill per year
- 2.7 tonnes waste generated per person annually
Facts & figures
More waste is being produced than ever before. Through nationwide research and industry partnerships, we can transform this waste into reusable materials and move towards a circular economy.
We have a whole-systems thinking approach towards a circular economy, in which resource extraction, materials production and end-of-life processing form a closed loop with minimal waste.
With our expertise in process intensification, we have developed new technologies that are now utilised in small, modular plants that process waste at its source, producing valuable niche products. With the help of industry and government, we want to apply these advanced manufacturing methods to transform the waste industry in urban and regional areas.
Designing technology to recover useful chemicals from waste water streams such as sewage or mine-tailings dams.
We are pursuing basic and applied research in membrane science and technology for waste water applications. Specific research interests include:
This project focuses on developing novel processes to extract value from waste water through biological conversions into high-value products. We are using various microorganisms (algae, fungi, bacteria, yeast) to produce biopharmaceutical, health care and nutritional products (for example, PUFAs, carotenoid pigments, cholesterol-lowering drugs, vitamins, and nutraceticals). To do this we are using a suite of technologies:
Using technologies to re-process biological waste products from landfill to create high energy density fuels.
This project utilises the hydrothermal liquefaction pilot plant at the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. This is a continuous-flow kilo-scale research facility and the first of its kind in Australia. It converts organic and other solid matter including waste plastics into fuels and chemicals under hydrothermal conditions, submerging them in water up to 300 degrees Celsius and subjecting them to pressure equivalent to up to 250 atmospheres. This project addresses challenges associated with feedstock handling, preparation and standardisation using our feedstock preparation facilities. The plant has converted various biomass feeds (including algae starch crops, aquatic plants, woods and grass) into bio-crudes. It is now in this project being used for testing MSW feedstock blends.
The resulting products will be further refined through catalytic processes using our novel catalysts in reactions such as reforming, hydrotreating, gasification, pyrolysis and transesterification. We will produce various high value fuels and chemicals with targeted and precise properties.
There is a well-known problem with the accuracy and completeness of waste data in Australia. In this project, we are applying analytic techniques to waste management at a national level, starting with Organics and MSW data. The development of mobile applications to track household or business waste and map waste at council level manage their individual waste.
Being able to reprocess waste products from one or more industies into useful items such as building materials is an important area of waste minimisation. The goal of this research area is to find more novel and large-scale waste recovery options.
The WTX project will reprocess waste products from one or more industries (power generation, mining, steel, glass, aluminum, agricultural) into various useful materials such as construction industry products. The goal of this project is to identify novel and large-scale routes for converting carbonated blends of industrial waste, and novel product formulations of X construction materials with targeted specially properties. For example, we have developed processes to transform fly-ash into a new cement blend, utilising fly ash and carbon dioxide wastes from power plants to produce future sustainable construction materials. We are also using advanced 3D printing manufacturing techniques to integrate product design (ink) with application requirements.
To minimise wastes and emissions from industrial manufacturing, we are using our enterprise-wide models to design future industrial ecology eco-parks. This requires systems approaches where energy and materials are recovered and recycled in a highly-integrated manner, achieved through the use of optimization methods, accurate techno-economic estimation and life cycle analysis. The result is a blue print for a future bio-manufacturing hub that maximises efficiencies and minimises wastes and emissions.
Recovering valuable resources from electronic waste products, and from emerging industries, e.g. renewable energy and energy storage.
In this project we are investigating the mechanisms of e-waste bioleaching and hydropyrolysis. Our aim is to develop new low energy processes that maximize recovery of materials including metals and polymers from e-waste.
In this project, we are focusing on addressing the waste problem emerging from the roll out of renewable energy technologies. These include waste materials generated from solar energy and energy storage technologies. First targets in this project are solar PV panels and battery material wastes. A key activity in this project will be life cycle analysis to track the flow of materials in this sector and to estimate the environmental and other impacts these emerging wastes will have.
Learn more about our work and plans for the future
Over 80 representatives from Chinese and Australian universities, research institutes and leading companies in waste industry got together at the Centre in China to discuss cooperation, engagement, upgrade and innovation.