Repurposing Westfield Bondi Junction’s building facade

A recent project to remove over 1,000sqms of Westfield Bondi Junction’s external facade unlocked an opportunity to approach our diversion and recycling of building waste differently.

Ordinarily, building waste and waste from large projects is sorted and removed from site to landfill or recycling. The team at Westfield Bondi Junction had different ideas though and wanted to ensure the building’s old façade was fully re-purposed.

Keeping with our approach of waste minimisation and responsible business the team engaged PanelCycle.

PanelCycle broke down the façade material and separated the aluminium from the core materials before repurposing them. They then sent the core material to a green ceramics manufacturer to manufacture tiles and benchtops, and the aluminium was transported to the NSW Hunter region, where it was used in the manufacturing of steel.

The panels components are separated into plastic and aluminium, before being processed to a finer compound for re-purposing

Deb Akins, Senior Facilities Manager Bondi Junction said: “Previously, we would have been satisfied knowing we had sent materials to be recycled – rather than going to landfill. But to know they would be re-purposed in line with our responsible business mindset shows we can approach these types of projects with a different lens.”

Varun Nair, GM Operations and Environment said: “Our approach to waste minimisation focuses on design principles for circularity, operational efficiency, and connecting with business partners and customers to support their waste minimisation goals.

“It is our objective to maintain a waste recovery rate above 95% for all major developments, and we strive towards shifting the mindset of how we approach projects differently.”