The emerging priority project is researching the properties and viability of invasive plant species and waste plastics collected on Country as manufacturing feedstock. Guided by national waste priorities, the project explores the possibility of creating Green Ceramics for regional and remote communities to promote circularity principles and environmental sustainability.
Problematic plant species are currently incinerated once cleared from landscapes. The objective of this project is to redirect this waste and integrate it into a resource stream. This bio-waste will be combined with waste plastics to be remanufactured into input materials to produce new items intended for use within regional communities.
The collaborative partnership between project leader Firesticks Alliance Indigenous Corporation and Hub researchers from Impact Priority 2 from UNSW’s SMaRT Centre will investigate the viability and economic feasibility for manufacturing from these waste types. This stage of the project will involve sample harvesting and prototype development to investigate product possibilities.
The project’s priorities are:
- Aiding in environmental restoration and preservation through the extraction of invasive plants and collection of plastics.
- Feasibility studies for harvesting programs that tie land management with social enterprise.
- Sampling, quantifying and harvesting invasive species to develop prototypes
