These Australian engineers are making bricks out of rubble from disaster sites and warzones – helping to improve conditions for people living in affected regions.
The paths of Perth-based engineers Nic Matich and Blake Stacey crossed last decade while trying to commercialise a “unique-shaped brick”.
The venture was unsuccessful, but a lamentation session saw new plans sketched out, literally on a beer coaster.
The pair’s big idea? A containerised solution able to make bricks out of rubble, aiding reconstruction efforts at a disaster site, warzone or wherever else they’re needed.
Disaster debris is widely recognised as a major barrier to recovery, rather than just a byproduct of destruction. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) notes that “disaster debris is often one of the most significant barriers”, with rubble overwhelming local systems and slowing rebuilding efforts.
After major events, debris volumes can reach millions of tonnes, while damaged infrastructure makes removal costly and logistically difficult. At the same time, basic construction materials are often scarce or need to be imported. Guidance from UNEP stresses debris should be treated as a resource rather than waste, pointing to the potential for reuse in reconstruction where systems allow.
“We can basically make bricks out of quite a lot of materials. We can put a bit of glass in, a bit of plastic,” explained Matich, who is the Founder and Director of Mobile Crisis Construction (MCC).
MCC, a registered charity, was established in 2019. A demonstration brick-making machine is operating at its Malaga factory. Another was deployed to Ukraine in 2024.
“Currently it’s winter in Ukraine, so the machine is in storage,” said Stacey, MCC’s other Founder and Director, and a materials engineer who has spent about 25 years directly involved in bricks and brick-making.
He said it’s too dangerous for the machine to be deployed. This has caused a knock-on delay in the maintenance of the machine.
Stacey and Matich said they were in talks about a government-backed project in the typhoon-prone Philippines and another in East Timor.
They spend about 5 per cent and 10 per cent of their professional lives on the charity. Stacey estimates a further 10 per cent of his time with a related private business, LayGo, whose interlocking bricks and machines for creating these are used by MCC. LayGo is pursuing recycled mine tailings as a brick ingredient among its work.
One of MCC’s installations includes a diesel generator and a small loader as optional extras, and costs approximately $120,000 to $130,000. The six-metre containerised brick machine also comes with a separate hammer mill to turn debris into suitably-sized aggregates. These can be up to “about six millimetres in size”, Stacey said.
The container holds a planetary mixer, a steep conveyor with pockets, and a hydraulic press, with an upcoming mark 2 version to feature a press able “to put 120 t of force onto one brick at a time”.
“It means we can possibly use up to 90 per cent recycled materials in the brick.”
According to LayGo’s material, bricks sized 300 by 100 mm can be made, “with 200 by 100 and 100 by 100 mm part bricks from the same mould”, as well as a “240 by 120 mm interlocking brick” and paver options.
Approximately 4000 bricks can be made per 10-hour shift. Older material from the company lists 8000, though this number has been revised, Stacey said.
A blend of 8 per cent cement is most commonly used, with bricks normally able to be moved or stacked and bricks having standard strength ratios at seven-day and 28-day curing times.
Matich and Stacey said the real innovation in what they’ve developed is around a specific solution for “a very specific problem”, delivered through a charity, with a transportable technology allowing minimally-trained workers to rebuild.
The ability to process debris locally can have practical and economic benefits beyond waste reduction. According to the World Bank’s disaster recovery guidance, effective debris management is essential for timely and cost-efficient recovery, and can “create livelihood opportunities and support local economic recovery”. Reusing rubble as construction material can also reduce demand for new inputs such as cement and aggregates, which carry a significant environmental footprint.
For communities rebuilding after conflict or disaster, approaches that combine material reuse with simple, deployable technology can help shorten reconstruction timelines while supporting local participation in the recovery process.
“That’s what’s novel. These types of machines are used all over the world, but just not in this way – providing better outcomes for people in disaster or warzones,” said Matich, who studied mechanical engineering at the University of Western Australia before moving into insurance and then finance.
On progress since getting started in 2019, he added: “We’re a startup charity with very low overheads.”
Stacey estimates that attracting a million dollars annually would allow somewhere between five and seven machines to be delivered internationally per year.
“And [allow the hiring of] more materials-based engineers to support that.”
Matich said they would also like the support of an organisation such as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, or the United Nations, to assist their work in countries including the Philippines, which Matich said has 3000 schools to rebuild.
“That’s why we’re there at the minute.”
WATCH: How engineering can drive sustainable development, including after disaster.
