Chemistry

Professor Veena Sahajwalla is revolutionising recycling science. Rather than take up arms against a sea of big polluters, Professor Sahajwalla approaches the problem as a commercial opportunity with real market value to help drive behaviour change. Last year her SMaRT centre opened the world’s first e-waste micro-factory to process old computers, phones, televisions, and all the electronic junk that ends up in landfill. The waste is sorted and dismantled by robots, then mined for its precious elements. Circuit boards are stripped of metals such as gold, copper and tin, while glass and plastic are converted to industrial-grade ceramics and plastic filaments for use in 3D printing. Join us to explore how repurposing the fundamental molecules and elements within post-consumer waste products is reinventing the way we treat - and perceive - these largely untapped commodities.