Two prominent building product manufacturers have received a Cooperative Research Centre Projects $2.7 million grant to help transform plastic waste into lightweight prefabricated building products.
Bondor, together with Pipemakers Australia, will work with M Modular and the University of Melbourne to help improve the productivity of Australia’s construction industry.
The project will cost $8.76 million in total and will run until mid-2023. The $2.7 million grant is funded as part of round 8 of the Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-Ps).
Bondor GM Geoff Marsdon says the project will have a substantial impact on the environment by reducing the volume of plastic waste lost to landfill.
"The building and construction sector in Australia consumes around 700,000 tonnes of plastics each year, which is 20 percent of Australia's plastic consumption.”
“Less than 12 percent is recycled and more than 40 percent is disposed of in landfill. We can address this problem by recycling this plastic waste into lightweight prefabricated building products (LPBP), he says.
“Not only will the developed processes reduce the amount of plastic waste going to landfill, they will also significantly reduce production costs for LPBP while enhancing the quality of the products.”
“Consequently, this CRC-P will maximise the economic value of plastic resources in Australia,” says Marsdon.
Image: Supplied
