SPARK worked with the University of New South Wales, and Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla, in developing a tile that incorporates discarded glass, timber, and textiles through new technologies being explored at the UNSW Green Ceramics MICROfactorie.

Born in India's industrial capital, Mumbai, Prof. Sahajwalla is a leading expert in recycling science, and the founding director of the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research & Technology at the University of New South Wales.

The ‘green tile’, used in the Canberra Renewal bin, incorporated discarded paper cups, which were actually collected in a specific bin installed for the purpose of gathering local waste from users of the mall's cafes. Those cups were then hand delivered to the university where they were combined with non-recyclable glass materials and textiles to create the tile that can be used across a wide range of applications.

Click here to learn more about Green Ceramic Tiles, and here for the ABC's Australian Story episode on the work of Prof. Sahajwalla.