An industry-first apartment at Mirvac’s Pavilions Residences project in Sydney Olympic Park has been constructed using ‘Green Ceramics™’ and has become a blueprint for how future development can join the circular economy in ways that are desirable, feasible and scalable.

These Green Ceramics, manufactured from waste glass and textiles, are an innovation born from research and development at the UNSW Sydney Centre of Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT), led by a global pioneer in waste technology, Professor Veena Sahajwalla. Mirvac has used its expertise in design, development, construction, and marketing in the build of a sustainable apartment

The collaboration pioneers a way to revolutionise the construction industry by producing an entirely new built-environment material from waste that would otherwise find its way to landfill.

Green Ceramics are produced at SMaRT Centre’s MICROfactorie™ by reforming difficult-to-recycle waste materials through a combination of heat and compression. The process combines yellow-bin glass and waste textiles – both considered problematic waste streams despite their inherent qualities – using SMaRT Centre’s patented technology.

The Pavilions Residences apartment is the first time these Green Ceramics have been used as a construction material in a residential setting. They have become floor tiles, splashbacks, kitchen island fronts, shelving, artwork, lighting and furniture. In one case, where the design of a wall feature required a softer textural effect, manufacture was modified to add jute bags (once used for storing coffee beans). Transforming these waste materials into whole new materials and products keeps them circulating in the economy for as long as possible.

Photography courtesy of Mirvac.