The Institute for Sustainable Materials and Environment is a joint initiative between the Departments of Civil Engineering, Chemistry, Environmental Science and Industrial Design at Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

The evolution of urbanisation, economic intensification as well as the all-embracing needs to develop infrastructure and production of agricultural outputs to accommodate burgeoning population growth in China has resulted in a significant amount of industrial and agricultural waste each year and where the methods of disposal by means of uncontrolled landfill and burning have caused a serious environmental impact. Effectively utilising solid wastes for the development of new building materials through the concept of multidisciplinary research is no doubt a significant step toward low carbon and sustainable construction.