Finding the Beauty in Waste
Extending the lifecycle of the materials we use has become increasingly important at Mirvac. It forms one of the strategies in our Planet Positive: Waste & Materials plan, our roadmap on how we’ll send zero waste to landfill by 2030.
In FY20, we demonstrated how this can be applied in a practical way, with Professor Veena Sahajwalla, Director of UNSW’s SMaRT Centre and NSW Circular, and stylist and artist, Emma Elizabeth, coming together to create a unique living space at one of our Marrick & Co apartments in Sydney.
Using innovative technology and design, Professor Sahajwalla and Emma collaborated to transform waste products into beautiful and useable objects. This included a striking blue-hued dining table, made from glass ceramic tiles and a dress belonging to Emma, along with black-and-white flecked occasional tables composed of old corflute posters that would have otherwise ended up in landfill. Complementing these pieces were furnishings by British designer Timothy Oulton, featuring the first 100 per cent chemical free indigo-dyed fabrics, occasional tables crafted from salvaged timbers and fully recyclable vintage rugs.
Mirvac’s collaboration with the SMaRT Centre underscores the benefits the circular economy can bring to everyday living, and points to endless possibilities of finding stylish solutions while addressing the issue of waste.
“It’s a far more sustainable approach from a ‘take, make, waste’ system, which results in the loss of resources and contributes to ever-growing landfill,” said Diana Sarcasmo, Mirvac’s General Manager, Design, Marketing & Sales. “And if we can find a way to reduce waste and create something useful and
beautiful in the process, then we are one step closer to a planet friendly existence.”
ONE PLANET LIVING
Marrick & Co was the first large scale project in Australia to achieve a One Planet Living accreditation. The collaboration between Mirvac, Professor Veena Sahajwalla and Emma Elizabeth is aligned with Marrick & Co’s One Planet Living guiding principles, of which zero waste is one. In addition to promoting and embracing sustainable design, the project has achieved a 95 per cent diversion of construction waste from landfill, through the retention of heritage structures and recycling of bricks within the development site.
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