Pottery for the Planet installs Australia’s first commercial solar-fired pottery kiln at Noosa business

It wasn’t without challenges but this Noosa business has finally managed to launch Australia’s first commercial solar-fired travel cup. Find out how.

Pottery for the Planet's Hannah Hudson with the new solar-fired travel cup. Picture Supplied.

A Noosaville-based business has become the first in the country to use a solar-powered kiln to fire its commercial pottery range.

Pottery for the Planet launched Australia's first commercially solar-fired travel cup this week.

Company director Renton Bishopric, 40, said the move was an important milestone for the eight-year-old pottery business.

"We're pretty excited about it," he said.

"We need to challenge what we do. We need to improve what we do. And for us the addition of solar in our manufacturing process is one way that we can really make a difference."

Mr Bishopric and his partner and fellow director Clare Botfield, 39, started the company in 2012 in a bid to make a difference to the environment.

The reusable travel cup was launched in 2015.

Noosaville-based pottery business, Pottery for the Planet, renowned around the world for its beautiful handmade pottery, has launched Australia's first commercially solar-fired travel cup. Picture: Supplied

Back then the company had no staff.

But thanks to publicity, such as the ABC TV's War on Waste series, the handmade travel cup skyrocketed in popularity.

Today, the business employs 16 staff across three locations, including Noosaville, Margaret River in Western Australia and Auckland in New Zealand.

Pottery for the Planet produces more than 500 cups among other pottery products and has a popular Instagram account boasting 104,000 followers.

Up to 98 solar panels and an electric kiln from Germany was installed in late 2020 to finally move the business away from using wood to fire its pottery.

Mr Bishopric, a second generation potterer who has been doing pottery for 20 years, said the company had prevented 9.3 tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere - the equivalent of 278 trees - to date.

He said he had to wait several years for the solar technology to advance enough to fire a 1300C kiln.

"It's been a longtime dream of mine to be able to produce a solar fired ceramic product and it's been a waiting game for the technology to advance to a point to which a solar system can run enough heat to fire a kiln," he said.

"The exciting recent advancements in the solar industry have now created this opportunity and we've incorporated it into our manufacturing process."

But it hasn't been all without its challenges.

The first batch of cups fired in the new solar-powered kiln cracked and had to be discarded with Mr Bisphoric labelling it "an epic fail".

Mr Bisphoric acknowledged it was "hard work" to achieve his goals.

"But like with anything you make mistakes, you learn from them and move on," he said.

Originally published as Pottery for the Planet installs Australia’s first commercial solar-fired pottery kiln at Noosa business