Engineers from RMIT University, in collaboration with materials technology company Livefield, have developed new fire-proof building claddings made out of recycled glass.
The non-combustible claddings, which are designed to be cheap, structurally robust, and fire-resistant, use recovered glass waste as an alternative material, creating a potentially efficient circular economy solution to a major waste stream issue, RMIT said in a media release.
Each cladding is composed of 83 per cent recycled glass, relatively low amounts of plastic binders, and fire-retardant additives.
Associate Professor Dilan Robert, the project’s lead researcher, said the cladding’s special blend of materials addresses challenges found in glass claddings, which were brittle and prone to fracture, as the plastic binders provide enhanced durability.
The innovation, which is now being patented by Livefield, has been trialled for large-scale manufacturing capability and has met the key compliance requirement of claddings for non-combustibility set by Standards Australia.
Panels using the team’s technology are installed at RMIT’s Bundoora campus to showcase the product’s feasibility as building claddings.
The project involves RMIT, Cooperative Research Centres Projects grants, the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Transformation of Reclaimed Waste Resources to Engineered Materials and Solutions for a Circular Economy (TREMS), and Sustainability Victoria, as well as other industry entities.
“Livefield is keen to upscale the manufacturing process of the recycled class composite cladding, with further research support from RMIT,” Robert said.
Approximately 300 million tonnes of glass are produced each year globally, but only 21 per cent of that amount is recycled.
Robert said the project’s team of civil and material engineers is seeking to work with industries around the world to find more ways of using recycled glass in products.
“By using high amounts of recycled glass in building claddings, while ensuring they meet fire safety and other standards, we are helping to find a solution to the very real waste challenge,” the lead researcher noted.
