The recycling hub bringing Carlton one step closer to a circular economy 

With so much waste unable to be disposed of sustainably in standard bins, the Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre’s (CNLC) revamped Recycling Hub has become a community pillar. 

CNLC executive officer Tony Milne told Inner City News that the hub was a community-driven initiative turning waste into resources and empowering residents to make a tangible difference to the environment. 

Residents are able to recycle seven regular waste items which include batteries, light globes and fluorescent tubes, mail package satchels, mobile phones and e-waste, printer cartridges, medication blister packs, and toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes. 

For harder-to-recycle waste items, such as mismatched plastic containers, paint and gas bottles, the Recycling Hub has a rotating monthly schedule, with each month dedicated to a different form of waste. 

“It’s a place that local residents can drop off recycling that’s normally difficult to recycle and we dispose of it in our environmentally friendly manner to the appropriate authorities,” Mr Milne said. 

CNLC has also created a community Compost Hub which provides a convenient and inclusive way for residents and local businesses to prevent food scraps from going to landfill.

To date, around 700 residents are also registered to drop off their food scraps at the CNLC bins, either inside the back gate during weekdays or after hours in locked bins accessible at the corner of Princes and Station streets.

Through this initiative CNLC prevented more than 36,000 kg of waste from going to landfill in 2023 and the compost that it produces is sold back to the community for $5 a bag, used in its garden, and in Carlton Primary School’s newly established garden.

“Our Community Compost Hub exemplifies the power of collective action,” Mr Milne said.  

By working together, we’re not only reducing landfill waste but also creating rich compost that supports local gardens and generates funds for community programs, fostering a circular economy right here in Carlton.

Local resident, Jane, said that participating in the compost hub had been incredibly rewarding and that it’s “amazing” to see the impact the community can have when they come together. 

“Not only are we reducing waste, but we’re also creating something beneficial for our community,” she said. 

In 2023, through the help of a grant from Sustainability Victoria, CNLC expanded its compost project and employed a compost officer for one day a week.

The compost officer collected food waste from local cafes, restaurants, and pubs. However, recently due to the funding not being renewed this position no longer exists. 

“It’s a very valuable service and we’d like to continue to offer that and to expand it to more local restaurants and cafes as well,” Mr Milne said, adding that CNLC couldn’t rely on volunteers to do it because it was essential that the food waste was collected weekly, and that the risk of volunteers not being able to do it jeopardised the effectiveness of the program. 

CNLC also includes sustainability education within its English language courses to ensure that all community members are up to speed with the best way to recycle their waste.

“We work with refugees and a lot of disadvantaged migrants, and that when they come to Australia, they might not necessarily understand what the different colours mean for different bins,” Mr Milne said. 

The programs aim to teach new residents about what can and can’t be recycled and what goes into compost bins, as well as general sustainability education. •