The six researchers from NSSN member universities who spoke at the event.

Creating valuable graphene from a byproduct of sugar cane and converting agricultural waste into ethanol were some of the cutting-edge waste-to-profit technologies presented at the NSSN’s Creating Profits from Waste event last week.

Six researchers from NSSN member universities spoke at the Climate Action Week event which highlighted innovative research, technologies, and businesses that have made a profit from waste.

University of Wollongong senior lecturer in Structural Engineering, Dr Aziz Ahmed, described his involvement in an international project which is transforming plastic waste into useful household products – such as chairs and glasses – through large-scale 3D printing.

Dr Aziz Ahmed from University of Wollongong

The project, funded by the National Science Foundation and CSIRO, integrates a shipping container-based recycling hub equipped with a unique extruder that prints directly from plastic flakes or pellets, reducing costs and enhancing sustainability.

“The difference between this technology and the traditional conventional 3D printing technology is that you can directly print using flakes or pallets or even powders, that you get from directly shredding waste plastics,” Dr Ahmed said.

“It's much cheaper to make and sometimes you don't have to even pay… there is a significant price advantage.”

The project is in collaboration with institutions like Western Sydney University, Georgia Tech, and Texas Austin.

ANU Plant Scientist Professor Caitlin Byrt researches bioengineering membrane technologies to extract valuable resources from industrial waste.

Her team, through their biotech startup Membrane Transporter Engineers, develops systems inspired by plant biology to harvest metals, minerals, nutrients, and clean water from sources like mining and urban wastewater.

Their work, supported by partners like Rio Tinto and ICON Water, aims to create sustainable solutions that reduce pollution while recovering critical materials.

By integrating nature’s filtration processes into technology, they seek to transform waste management into a circular resource recovery system.

“We want to separate out critical resources – metals, minerals, and nutrients – so that we can go from our past of extracting clean water from the environment, using it in our industries, creating nutrient rich wastes, and releasing that, causing environmental contamination, to our future where we can actually reuse not just the clean water, but also the other critical resources,” Dr Byrt said.

Professor Peter Lewis from Hunter Biological Solutions.

Professor Peter Lewis, founder of Hunter Biological Solutions, is leading research in green energy and chemical production through microbiology, synthetic biology and precision fermentation.

His team is developing the Hunter Pilot Biorefinery, a facility designed to convert agricultural and municipal waste into second-generation biofuels like ethanol, reducing reliance on land-intensive first-generation biofuels.

“Second generation biofuels use waste material,” Prof Lewis said.

“If you are cutting down a field of corn, you can use the waste stalks to produce second-generation biofuels, likewise with sugarcane. The problem is getting all the available sugars converted into ethanol is the tricky bit…and from a cost point and a waste point, you need to use all the sugars.”

He said the process is versatile, allowing for the use of various feedstocks, and has potential applications in producing sustainable aviation fuel.

With growing interest from the federal government and defence forces, the project aims to enhance national energy resilience and sustainability.

A/Prof in Sustainability Engineering at Western Sydney University, Dr Dharma Hagare, leads research in sustainability engineering and circular economy applications.

Dr Dharma Hagare from Western Sydney University.

His work focuses on recycling organic waste, particularly food waste, which accounts for 4.7 million tonnes in Australia, to create valuable products like poultry feed.

“Chicken is one of the most consumed meat products in Australia. We need a lot of chicken feed to grow these chickens,” he said.

“We're looking at food waste from different sources and then we are trying to work out what is the nutrient content of all the food waste.”

Through industry collaborations, including Food Recycle Limited, his research has led to the commercialisation of sustainable chicken feed, reducing landfill waste and carbon emissions.

ANU Research Fellow Dr Karthika Prasad focuses on transforming agricultural waste like sugarcane bagasse – a byproduct of sugarcane – into high-value carbon nanomaterials using advanced plasma technologies.

“We can use sugarcane bagasse as a fertiliser but due to the slower decomposition nature and the bulky nature of it, it's a bit hard to practically use it as a fertiliser,” Dr Prasad said. “We were thinking about how to use bagasse in a useful manner.

“That's when we thought we can make it into something which contains a lot of carbon. So why can't we just convert this into some carbon nanomaterials?”

Her research successfully converts waste into graphene, a highly valuable material with applications in biomedical implants, aerospace, and coatings for satellites.

Collaborating with industries, her work has led to commercial partnerships, including the use of graphene in implants and aerospace materials.

Research Director at the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures, Dr Melita Jazbec, studies the transition to a circular economy, focusing on the connections between energy, water, and waste.

Her project, funded by Sydney Water and Circular Australia, examines the potential for the Upper South Creek Advanced Water Recycling Centre in Kemps Creek to process external organic waste, particularly food waste, in Western Sydney.

By utilising existing anaerobic digesters, Sydney Water could generate biogas and recover valuable nutrients while addressing food waste challenges.

“Sydney Water is one of the few companies that has anaerobic digesters in Australia. Australia overall has only about 300 anaerobic digesters; Europe has 18,000 and China has one hundred thousand.

“We are well behind in terms of utilising this opportunity to generate biogas as one of the benefits as well as all the nutrients that we can capture.”

The event was moderated by NSSN Chief Operating Office Nicholas Haskins.

However, she said the project also faces hurdles, such as contaminants like PFAS and microplastics, which must be managed to maximise environmental benefits.

The Creating Profits from Waste event was held at the Sydney Startup Hub and was supported by the federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources.

The event is a pre-cursor to the NSSN and NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub’s Western Sydney Manufacturers Forum in Penrith on 2 April. Register.

From waste to wealth: researchers showcase innovative technologies at Climate Action Week event