Veena Sahajwalla | SMaRT@UNSW SMaRT@UNSW Sustainable Materials Research & Technology Skip search menu search Main navigation Home About us expand_more (contains submenu) Our people Collaboration partners Research programs expand_more (contains submenu) Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub ARC Microrecycling Research Hub Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy ARC Green Manufacturing Research Hub expand_more (contains submenu) Hub research outcomes ARC Industry Laureate for Green Metals Other programs expand_more (contains submenu) ARC Discovery Projects ARC Linkage Projects Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) initiatives NSW Physical Sciences Fund Laureate expand_more (contains submenu) Select Laureate research outcomes Australia and India plastics research project Ghost Nets Technologies & products expand_more (contains submenu) MICROfactorie technologies Green Steel Green Metals expand_more (contains submenu) Surface modification Thermal Disengagement Technology Research outcomes News & events expand_more (contains submenu) News Videos Events Education Contact us Breadcrumb Home Veena Sahajwalla Professor Follow Phone +61 2 9385 6432 Email [email protected] Latest news Read the latest news from the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology Read nowchevron_right ABOUT ME Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate Professor Veena Sahajwalla is an internationally recognised materials scientist, engineer and inventor revolutionising recycling science. She is renowned for pioneering the high temperature transformation of waste in the production of a new generation of ‘green materials.’ In 2018 Veena launched the world's first e-waste microfactory and in 2019 she launched her plastics microfactory, a recycling technology breakthrough. As the founding Director of the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, she is producing a new generation of green materials and products made entirely, or primarily, from waste. Veena also heads the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub for ‘green manufacturing’, a leading national research centre that works in collaboration with industry to ensure new recycling science is translated into real world environmental and economic benefits. In 2019 she was appointed inaugural Director of the Circular Economy Innovation Network by the NSW Government through its Office of Chief Scientist and Engineer. In 2019, she was honoured by Engineers Australia as a Centenary Hero for her work (https://www.createdigital.org.au/meet-engineer-helping-people-see-huge-possibilities-circular-economy/). In 2018 she was elected as Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. In 2016, Veena was named one of Australia’s Most Innovative Engineers and in 2015, Veena named Australia’s 100 Most Influential Engineers, both by Engineers Australia. In 2013, Veena received the ‘Howe Memorial Lecture Award’, Pittsburgh, USA in appreciation for her lecture on ‘The Power of Steelmaking – harnessing high temperature reactions to transform waste into raw material resources’. The new science of recycling Veena is renowned for her internationally commercialised EAF ‘green’ steelmaking process that is utilising millions of waste tyres otherwise destined for landfill as a partial replacement for coke. The conceptual and scientific breakthroughs that underpin ‘green steel’ have paved the way for an unparalleled portfolio of new ‘waste to value’ science, built over years of research at the SMaRT Centre, with valuable contributions from industry partners. This approach is enabling her to transform many of the world’s most challenging waste streams -like e-waste, automotive waste, batteries– into value-added materials that can be redirected back into manufacturing. Microfactories - the future of green manufacturing Veena is facilitating the roll out of safe, cost-effective ‘waste to value’ solutions via her unique microfactory model, which brings the solution to the (waste) problem for the first time. In future, these small-scale microfactories will enable local communities to produce many of the products, materials and resources they need locally, using resources largely derived from waste. This new approach promises to disrupt today’s highly centralised, vertically integrated industrial model and its mass global markets, as agile, scale technologies drive the decentralisation of manufacturing, with positive economic and social impacts. Recognition and engagement Veena became one of Australia’s best-known scientists and inventors through her regular appearances as a judge on the long-running ABC TV series ‘The New Inventor’s; recent guest on ABC’s Q& A and on the ‘War on Waste’. Some of her recently given talks were: European Materials Research Society Fall Meeting 2018, Warsaw, Poland; Falling Wall Conference 2018, Berline, Germany, Farm2Fork Summit 2019, Sydney; TRANSFORM Conference 2019, Green Building Council of Australia. She continues her community engagement through regular public talks, her mentoring program for girls in science (Science 50:50) and regular media commentary. In the academic sphere, Veena has published more than 380 peer-reviewed papers and delivers keynote and invited speeches across Australia and worldwide. In 2018 she was elected as Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. In 2017 Veena received PLuS Alliance Prize for Research Innovation and awarded the prestigious Jubilee Professorship by the Indian Academy of Sciences. In 2016, Veena was named one of Australia’s Most Innovative Engineers by Engineers Australia. In 2015, Veena was the Innovation Winner of the Australian Financial Review¬–Westpac 100 Women of Influence awards, and was named Australia’s 100 Most Influential Engineers (Engineers Australia). In 2014, she was awarded an ARC Australian Laureate Fellowship. In 2013, Veena received the ‘Howe Memorial Lecture Award’, Pittsburgh, USA in appreciation for her lecture on ‘The Power of Steelmaking – harnessing high temperature reactions to transform waste into raw material resources’. In 2012, Veena won the Australian Innovation Challenge (Overall Winner) for her innovation “Green Steel”. In the same year her ‘green steel’ technology was listed by the US Society for Manufacturing Engineers’ as among the ‘innovations that could change the way we manufacture’. She was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) in 2007 and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, in 2005, and a Honorary Fellow in 2015. publications add Journal articles add Hossain R; Sahajwalla V, 2026, 'A comprehensive toolkit for micro- to manoplastic analysis', Environmental Science Nano, 13, pp. 122 - 149, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d5en00856e 2026 Sarkar M; Hossain R; Peng J; Thilakarathna DK; Wang Y; Yao Y; Sharma N; Sahajwalla V, 2026, 'Tuning Li+ and Na+ Functionality in Renewable Carbon Electroactive Material Through Site-Specific Nanostructural Disorder', Advanced Science, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/advs.202523383 2026 Hossain R; Ghinangju B; Sarkar M; Sahajwalla V, 2026, 'Detecting the Invisible: Analytical Advances and Regulatory Gaps in Tyre and Road Wear Particle Pollution', Microplastics, 5, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microplastics5010047 2026 Saudi AU; Salehi H; Maroufi S; Nekouei RK; Sahajwalla V, 2026, 'Oxidation-Assisted Solvent Extraction (OA-SX) for Selective Cerium Separation from Mixed Rare Earth Oxides', Minerals Engineering, 249, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2026.110652 2026 Payel S; Pahlevani F; Sahajwalla V, 2026, 'Solid-state thermal aging promotes mechanical fragmentation and microplastic release in polypropylene', npj Materials Degradation, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41529-026-00819-3 2026 Payel S; Pahlevani F; Paolini R; Sahajwalla V, 2026, 'Unveiling the degradation dynamics of packaging plastics: Insights into the onset of microplastics formation through photodegradation', Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances, 22, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hazadv.2026.101213 2026 Sarkar M; Hossain R; Ghinangju BS; Privat K; Bhattacharyya SK; Sahajwalla V, 2026, 'In Situ Carbothermic Reduction of Black Mass from Spent Li-Ion, Ni-MH, and Alkaline Batteries for Ni-Based Superalloy Synthesis', ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 18, pp. 37617 - 37627, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c19451 2026 Shoeib T; Hossain R; Álvarez R; Teymourian H; Sahajwalla V; Merkoçi A; Wang J, 2026, 'Repurposing waste streams for a new generation of sensors', Nature Sensors, 1, pp. 471 - 474, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s44460-026-00070-y 2026 Salehi H; Maroufi S; Khayyam Nekouei R; Sahajwalla V, 2025, 'Solvent extraction systems for selective isolation of light rare earth elements with high selectivity for Sm and La', Rare Metals, 44, pp. 2071 - 2084, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12598-024-03019-7 2025 Hossain R; Ali A; Sarkar M; Sahajwalla V, 2025, 'Understanding the multiple characteristics of microplastics generated from polypropylene bottles', Environmental Nanotechnology Monitoring and Management, 24, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101103 2025 Ghinangju B; Hossain R; Sahajwalla V, 2025, 'Unearthing waste resources: Nano-adsorbents from complex packaging waste for fluoride detoxification of water', Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 108, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jace.20132 2025 Abideen ZU; Khayyam Nekouei R; Hajian Foroushani M; Maroufi S; Pahlevani F; Sahajwalla V, 2025, 'Regenerated and reformed gold and titanium dioxide quantum dots from waste for sustainable and efficient environmental monitoring', Nanoscale, 17, pp. 14368 - 14380, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d4nr04726e 2025 Heriyanto ; Ghose A; Hossain R; Sahajwalla V, 2025, 'Novel upcycling of mixed textile waste into valuable activated carbon: A circular economy solution', Resources Conservation and Recycling, 223, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2025.108526 2025 Siddika A; Hajimohammadi A; Sahajwalla V, 2025, 'Sintering Behaviour, Physical Properties and Environmental Assessment of Glass Foam from Waste Glass', Waste and Biomass Valorization, 16, pp. 4479 - 4490, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12649-025-02929-6 2025 Hossain R; Ghose A; Sahajwalla V, 2025, 'Microplastics pollution in Australia: Sources, impacts, and mitigation strategies', Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, 11, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cscee.2024.101036 2025 Foroushani MH; Maroufi S; Nekouei RK; Aziz M; Sahajwalla V, 2025, 'Sustainable and dual-optimized electrode design from waste resources for high-energy lithium–sulfur batteries', Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2025.118114 2025 Hajian Foroushani M; Maroufi S; Khayyam Nekouei R; Sahajwalla V, 2025, 'Waste-Derived Zn-Based ASEI Layer for Enhanced Lithium Anodes in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries', Advanced Sustainable Systems, 9, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adsu.202401055 2025 Salehi H; Maroufi S; Kh. Nekouei R; Chinu K; Sahajwalla V, 2025, 'Tailored separation of light rare earth elements using combined oxidative precipitation and multi-stage solvent extraction techniques', Separation and Purification Technology, 364, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2025.132566 2025 Wootton N; Reis-Santos P; Przeslawski R; Adyel TM; Blewitt M; Clarke B; Crutchett T; Ghose A; Hajbane S; Hamann M; Hardesty BD; Hossain R; Lavers JL; Leterme SC; Leusch FDL; Lynch SK; MacGregor M; Motti CA; Noble W; OBrien A; Palanisami T; Okoffo ED; Perera K; Puskic P; Hollis JR; Roman L; Sahajwalla V; Santana MFM; Snigirova A; Tuuri EM; Wilson SP; Ziajahromi S; Gillanders BM, 2025, 'A field and laboratory manual for sampling, processing and reporting microplastics in coastal and marine environments', Frontiers in Marine Science, 12, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1674412 2025 Abideen ZU; Nekouei RK; Hajian-Foro…