Each year Australia generates millions of tonnes of waste glass and municipal solid wastes.
This is a problem that the recycling technology developed by our team of engineers at RMIT, working with Visy, can help solve.
We have found ways to manufacture bricks using a wide variety of materials that would otherwise go to landfill. We believe this will help revolutionise the construction industry.
The source material for bricks includes contaminants from paper recycling that comprises mostly glass, staples, aluminium, plastic, paper, stone and ceramics.
Visy has also been working with us to use materials that cannot be recycled into food and beverage packaging.
Using waste glass and combusted solid waste to replace some of the clay, we substitute a minimum of 15 per cent recycled glass and 20 per cent industrial waste ash for clay.
In addition to reducing strain on natural resources, these energy-efficient bricks minimise harmful emissions typically associated with traditional brick production.
Because these waste materials have a greater capacity to absorb heat, they can be fired at a significantly lower temperature.
We estimate this leads to an average of 20 per cent reduced energy savings during manufacturing.
The resulting bricks boast improved insulation when used in construction.
Our research shows that energy bills are reduced by up to 5 per cent compared to regular bricks in a single-storey building.
Testing shows that the bricks meet stringent structural, durability and sustainability standards, ensuring their suitability for a wide range of construction projects. By changing composition they can also be produced with a range different of colours.
Our focus now is to collaborate with brick manufacturers to scale up the manufacturing in their facilities to prove both the technical and financial aspects.
Over the next one to two years we will engage local councils in Melbourne and industry partners to bring our product to the market.
Bricks are just one possible recycling opportunity and we will continue collaborating with industry partners to explore other construction products.
- RMIT University Associate Professor Dilan Robert specialises in construction materials and circular economy research.
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