A group of RMIT University researchers helping Australia’s construction material production industry to become more sustainable has won one of Australia’s highest design and innovation awards.
Their “Enabling Design for Environmental Good” report discusses Australia’s ability to use design methods to improve the sustainability of products, materials and manufacturing processes.
The report comes as Australia aims to transition to a circular economy by 2030, putting our waste back to work through initiatives to improve resource recovery, increase the use of recycled material and better manage waste material flows.
The government is currently working to achieve an 80 per cent recovery rate for Australia’s waste by 2030, regulate the export of recycled materials, halve food wastage and increase investment in recycling industries.
Project lead and RMIT Associate Professor Simon Lockrey said the award win is a crucial step forward to helping Australia achieve its circular economy ambitions.
“This call for a new and coordinated approach to designing sustainable products and industries is not a nice-to-have, but an urgent necessity,” said Mr Lockrey.
“We hope this will lead to greater awareness and uptake of circularity by both those who designs and those who manage and fund the design process.”
“This Good Design Award for our project represents national recognition by the design industry that both co-design research and sustainability strategy are timely and pertinent for the sector.”
Transitioning Australia’s food, transport and building industries to a circular economy could create a benefit of $23 billion in GDP by 2025.
The Good Design Awards are considered one of Australia’s highest honour for design, celebrating the best new products, services and aspects of design of the year.
The Circular Design Jury said the award-winning report would encourage those designing for the future to think about how we extract, manufacture, reuse and recycle resources and products.
“The research and passion behind this project should set a new standard for Circular Design strategies in Australia,” a spokesperson said.
The RMIT-led ‘Enabling Design for Environmental Good’ report was created in collaboration with Arcadis and One Planet Consulting and commissioned by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
