Waste not, want not – making materials from waste

MEDIA RELEASE

03 September 2007

Waste not, want not – making materials from waste

The environmental issues of waste-reduction and sustainability in the building industry have been given a twist in an exhibition by students of the University's School of Architecture.

To be opened by Member of Parliament Nandor Tanczos on 5 September, Closing the Loops – Making Materials from Waste will showcase student work from the Sustainable Architecture course.

The exhibition addresses building sustainability issues with a focus on plasterboard, plastics, tyre waste, glass and timber off-cuts – problem wastes identified by local councils and waste minimisation organisations.

Course co-ordinator Maibritt Pedersen Zari says only very small amounts of building materials from demolition are reused or recycled in New Zealand.

"One way to improve the sustainability of the industry is to use waste products as raw material in the production of new materials, effectively challenging the very concept of ‘waste’."

She says resource conservation in architecture is already a global issue, with construction and demolition waste constituting approximately 30-50 percent of solid waste in some countries.

The event is an opportunity for professionals interested in environmental issues and the built environment to come together and see innovative work produced by more than 50 students from architecture, design, building science, environmental science and arts backgrounds.

Closing the Loops will be on show in the main atrium of the Schools of Architecture and Design from 5 September until 12 September from 8.30am to 5.30pm.

The exhibition is supported by Winstone Wallboards and by the Waste Management Institute of New Zealand.

More information about the projects, and examples of previous years' exhibitions can be viewed at: http://www.vuw.ac.nz/architecture/sustainability/index.aspx

ENDS

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