RMIT design student Sze Tjin Yek is this year’s national James Dyson Award winner and has been shortlisted for the Global Top 20 for her invention.
Sorbet Acoustic Panels are created from recycled textile waste and offer a sustainable solution to Australia’s growing fast fashion crisis by transforming discarded fabrics into eco-friendly materials. The James Dyson Award celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers, who think differently and create products that solve real-world problems.
Smartly stylish sustainability
While there are a range of initiatives and infrastructure designed to manage bulk and organic waste, exploring similar solutions to deal with household textile waste led to the creation of Sorbet, a sustainable acoustic panel that repurposes discarded textiles into a functional product that is crucial for managing noise pollution in both domestic and commercial environments.
Effective acoustic control is known to improve wellbeing and enhance student and worker concentration and productivity in noisy settings.
Conventional acoustic panels made from open-cell polyurethane foam, which are challenging to recycle, Sorbet panels offer a more sustainable alternative, and one that outperforms market solutions by using nearly 100 per cent textile waste, ensuring that all material can be retrieved and reused in an energy-efficient way.
RMIT design student Tjin Yek sees Sorbet as more than just a product. She says it’s a catalyst for change. By re-using textile waste and turning it into something beautiful and functional, Tjin Yek hopes to raise awareness about consumption habits and inspire others to rethink their relationship with waste.
Refining a commercially viable brand
Having already tested the panels in her father’s hometown in Malaysia, the shortlisted student is excited to seek out collaboration opportunities to develop a collection system with households or charitable organisations, as well as streamline the production process to refine Sorbet into a commercially viable product.
Sorbet will enter the final stage of the James Dyson Award, with global winners to be selected by Sir James Dyson and announced on 13 November. The winning inventions will receive $58,000 to support further development and commercialisation.
“I am incredibly humbled and proud to have progressed to the top 20 of this prestigious award and have my design take the global stage,” says Tjin Yek.
“I passionately believe in the power of creative solutions to address pressing issues such as the global waste crisis and feel honoured that my design can help shift the dial in helping Australians and those around the world make better choices when considering their textile usage and recycling habits.”
