kaua e moumou – do not be wasteful

This project investigates the role and techno-ecological-societal potentials and constraints of circular economy in Whareponga Valley in Ruātoria region of Tai Rawhiti.

Main themes for Whareponga Valley include simultaneously activating the ngahere (forest) as a valuable resource and regenerating the extremely decimated bush by invasive predators and plant species.

In collaboration with our Māori partners, we use innovation to find circular systems to maximise opportunities from bio-products and by-products that address the challenges of the community.

By employing the four key Treaty of Waitangi principles (Partnership, Protection, Participation and Potential) and through a conversational approach, we are identifying and seeding areas for collaborations between academic researchers and our hapu partners.

Solutions for the PPE waste crisis

We have developed a new technology to sterilise, reuse, recycle and valorise PPE waste. Shredded masks, gowns, gloves and plastic safety glasses are deconstructed using hydrothermal processing technology where hot, pressurised water and compressed air are applied; water and acetic acid are the end-products. The PPE-to-liquid process is carried out at a temperature of 300°C and takes about an hour in a small prototype machine in a laboratory in the faculty. Gaseous by-products from the process are oxygen and low concentrations of carbon dioxide which can be safely discharged. This is a clean, chemical-free solution which will be a game changer internationally.

From efficiency to sustainability 

Imagine you’re a factory owner who wants to make your operations more sustainable. Where do you start? You might incur unexpected costs. You might need to change your processes. You might even find your carbon footprint doesn’t shrink as much as you expect.

Change is fraught with risk. Risk can be expensive. Yet the rewards of sustainability can be great both for a business’s bottom line and for the planet.

To make change more predictable, we are working with a number of companies to model process systems by creating digital twins of those systems. Digital twins allow you to engage in supported thought experiments. You can really stress the system and push it in ways you wouldn’t push the real process because it would be expensive or dangerous to do. 

Waste Minimisation & Resource Recovery

Medical cannabis is one of the fastest growing industries around the world and in New Zealand has potential to generate exports comparable to kiwifruit in value. But with this growth comes the inevitable challenge of how to manage cannabis waste.

CIRCUIT and South Island-based medicinal cannabis producer Greenlab are working together to find sustainable solutions that will protect the environment and put New Zealand at the forefront of the industry’s waste management globally. We are developing processes to transform cannabis waste into valuable resources such as liquid fertiliser or animal feed. Instead of the current linear ‘take-make-dispose’ system, our technology will connect productivity for the sector with environmental, social, and cultural acceptability. And that is a big step towards true sustainability.

Relocalise metallic waste recycling & reuse

This project aims to identify new potential recycling loops and compare short-term and long-term strategies to re-introduce materials into circulation rather than into landfills (or exportation for re-purposing). The main objective of the proposed study is to identify the current opportunities of using metallic waste as feedstock, propose new recycling options, and reduce gas emissions.

In collaboration with Pheonix Metalman, we are establishing an analysis of social and industrial actors and new institutions involved in the circular economy involving metallic materials in New Zealand.

Biorefinery solution for stinky seaweed

Rotting Sargassum seaweed has plagued the Caribbean for more than 10 years – but our research shows how we could clean up beaches and emissions at the same time, by turning what’s now rubbish into renewable electricity and fertiliser. Tourism is a major sector in the Caribbean region, but rotting seaweed has resulted in reduced visitor arrivals. Sargassum has also triggered a state of emergency in the fisheries sector of several islands.

Our research takes a new approach: for the first time, combining the technologies of super hot water pre-treatment with anaerobic digestion system. Building a sargassum-based biorefinery equipped with hydrothermal pre-treatment and anaerobic digestion technologies would offer a number of socio-economic and environmental advantages.