Waste Warriors

Minimising Waste

Our practice is to re-use, repurpose and recycle as much as possible – not only at our Head Office and print facility in Sydney, but throughout our Design Studios in Australia and New Zealand. In fact, we have set up a task team called Waste Warriors to regularly assess our efforts to minimise waste.

Our Mission

As leaders in fit-for-purpose contract furnishings, we have a duty of care to set an example in the Architecture & Design industry. The Waste Warrior ‘s purpose at Materialised is clear: to make a sustainable difference as a collective, where ‘no waste’ should not just be a goal, but a way of business.  

Beyond Best Practice
2022 & 2023

We are APCO members and achieved a Beyond Best Practice overall performance level for the reporting period January – December 2022 and 2023. This means we have received the highest performance level and made significant progress on our packaging sustainability journey.

Recycling At Materialised

• All spent print paper and cardboard tubes (cores) are reused or recycled.
• We purchased a cardboard crusher to maximise storage space and make it more efficient to manage our recycling.
• M&K Muscat pick up waste paper and cardboard from us weekly and it is all recycled into corrugated packing card. This averages 2.5 tonne of recycling per month.
• Clear soft plastics are separated and picked up weekly by Veolia. 0.47 tonnes has been recycled in 2023*
• 2 tonnes of materials/energy has been extracted from our waste for re-use, recycling or energy use in 2023*
• We are proud to divert polyester textile waste from landfill through our partnership with Coritex and their collaboration with Circular Centre and Sealy. This recycling program sees our polyester fabric waste re-purposed into mattresses at Sealy’s shoddy factory.

Statistic source: EcoLogic powered by Veolia.

Waste Warrior Achievements, 2023

• Excess print paper is now reused to pack our fabric and wall covering sampling.
• Samples are posted from Sydney in compostable bags (from Hero Packaging and Better Packaging Co) and we now use Herotape paper tape for all sampling coming out of Head Office.
• A ‘blue bin’ has been purchased to recycle 10 cent bottles through St George Recyclers. We are working on setting up an account for the proceeds to fund our chosen charity partner.
• Donna has created pouches to dispose of pens, cans and batteries which are emptied at waste disposal sites such as Officeworks and Bunnings.
• Introduced dedicated waste sorting bins for production & sampling.
• For other waste such as coffee pods we have a Terracycle Zero Waste Box.
• A compost bin has been set up at Head Office and feeds our courtyard garden.
• We achieved ‘Beyond Best Practice’ in our 2022 APCO report, submitted in March 2023.
• Instigation of the Coritex recycling program to repurpose polyester fabric waste.

Charity Partners

Our mission is to avoid unnecessary landfill and so we work with many organisations who repurpose our fabric and wall covering off-cuts and samples. These are donated to local schools, churches and aged care facilities providing textile resources for craft, artwork, cushions, bags and scarves for charity auctions and raffles.

Organisations include The Salvation Army, Darwin Community Arts, Habitat For Humanity, Boomerang Bags, Juvenile Justice Victoria, Festival Of Women / Women In North Richmond Inc., St George & Sutherland Community College and Kurranulla Aboriginal Corporation.

Donation Days

Please email samples@materialised.com if you are keen to hear when we are next holding a donation day.

Creations Using Materialised Off Cuts & Sampling

HM Prison, Barwon – Testimonial

“Our Community Partnership Program represents an opportunity for our men in our care to give back and to encourage participation in community outreach. These programs are a privilege for us to participate in and represent a chance to participate in program that allows the men in our care to feel like they are rebuilding their lives and becoming better people.

We deliver these programs alongside the daily operations in our factory and rely on donations and goodwill from businesses such as yours to run these programs Donations from your business, Materialised have allowed the continuation of a Schools Partnership we have in place with St Vincent De Paul.

This particular project delivers Preppie Packs consisting of pencil cases, aprons, and library bags to areas of high need in the local community. Your vinyls and fabrics allow us to give disadvantaged children a chance to start their educational journey with products like their peers and would not be possible without generous donations from business such as yours.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you sincerely for your continued generosity to HM Prison Barwon and supporting the men in our care provide community engagement programs.

Thank you.“

Dani Thompson,
Industry Supervisor,
Textiles HM Prison, Barwon