A national research hub designed to transform Australia’s toughest carbon wastes into high-value industrial products has officially launched at Monash University’s Clayton campus.
The ARC Research Hub for Value-Added Processing of Underutilised Carbon Waste (VAPUCW) aims to convert plastics, tyres, food and organic residues into products including clean hydrogen, sustainable chemicals and advanced carbon materials.
It received $4.9 million in funding from the Australian Research Council and $4.8 million in cash contributions from 16 industry partners.
The Hub is a collaboration between Monash University, The University of Western Australia, Curtin University, The University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and multiple industry partners. Seven projects have already been executed, with several more underway.
“Australia produces huge volumes of waste – scrap tyres, plastics, crop residues and food waste – that often end up in landfill or stockpiles, creating long-term environmental pressures,” said Hub Director Professor Lian Zhang.
“This hub is developing technologies that can upcycle these materials into valuable products, helping the nation meet its 2030 recovery targets and shift decisively toward a circular economy.”
Bonnie Johnson, acting branch manager, Executive and Communications, ARC, said the hub exemplified the value of university-industry partnerships. “It will advance upcycling technologies and strengthen the regulatory and social frameworks needed to process these materials onshore,” she said.
The launch featured a showcase of technologies, including iron oxide catalysts derived from coal fly ash to improve bio-oil from organic waste, carbon-based catalysts from tyre waste to convert plastics into high-value chemicals, and 3D-printed reactors for hydrogen production from methane.
Ongoing projects include catalysts for liquid organic hydrogen carriers, advanced carbon materials for green hydrogen production, sewage-sludge valorisation, high-value extracts from seaweed biomass, and circular-economy ecosystem design for Australia.
The launch coincided with an international symposium on sustainable carbon waste processing, which drew around 100 researchers from Australia, the USA, UK, Singapore, China and Jordan.
Helen Partridge, director of the Monash Research Office, said: “Monash University is the perfect home for this hub, driven by our deep commitment to sustainability, industry collaboration and real-world impact.”
