Radio interview with Veena on plastic waste innovation

UNSW SMaRT Centre Director Prof Veena was interviewed by Radio 2SER about SMaRT's latest MICROfactorie^TM Technologies as part of the World Environment Day theme of "Beat Plastics Pollution".

SMaRT Centre and its industry partner IT asset management company Renew IT have built SMaRT's first commercially-run Plastics Filament MICROfactorie^TM that turns discarded hard plastics destined for landfill into valuable 3D printer feedstock.

Veena also talks about SMaRT's vision for a sustainable future, highlighting the importance of creating a circular economy around local supply chains, and how using waste as a resource must be at the centre of our manufacturing future and innovative decarbonisation efforts, in collaboration between researchers and industry.

She talks about various innovations such as UNSW SMaRT Centre's various recycling and MICROfactorie^TM technologies that recover valuable materials from waste and reform them into new manufacturing feedstock and products through collaborators, and what it takes to help achieve the sustainability needed for the future.

Listen to Radio 2SER interview / podcast

2SER says:

What are some of the challenges in dealing with plastics, and what is being done to innovate how we deal with them? Professor Veena Sahajwalla is Scientia Professor and Founding Director of the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research & Technology (SMaRT) at UNSW, who are leading important innovations in the way we repurpose plastics in Australia. Professor Veena joined The Daily to discuss what first inspired her to pursue sustainability science, the challenges of plastics pollution, and what initiatives SMaRT are working on to help rethink our approach to plastics.