The Community Recycle Hub Concept
The Recycle Hub began as a small community experiment in Yackandandah, Victoria, with a big ambition: to make recycling easier, spark behaviour change and prove that everyday people can build powerful local solutions. What started with donated retro filing cabinets and volunteer energy has now grown into a model that any community can replicate. This page is your toolkit – a place to learn how the Hub came to life, download the graphics and signage we created and gather everything you need to launch your own Recycle Hub.
Share the concept far and wide to help this initiative grow!
Graphics
These graphics have been created by Story Shape for free use across any community recycle hub. Please feel welcome to download, print, modify and share them widely. All we ask is that, where appropriate, you credit Story Shape for the design and Plasticwise on the signage, so we can continue creating resources that support local sustainability initiatives.
Logo Artwork
Artwork is customisable to your town. An abbreviated version of your town works best visually, eg “Beechy” instead of “Beechworth” or “Yack” instead of “Yackandandah”
🔺 Adobe Illustrator needed for editing
LARGE SIGN
ℹ️ Size: 1388 mm x 545 mm
🔺 Adobe Illustrator needed
Instructional Sign
ℹ️ Size: 545 mm x 1500 mm
🔺 Adobe InDesign needed for editing
A-Frame
ℹ️ Size: 420 mm x 594 mm
🔺 Adobe Illustrator needed for editing
How it all started
The Yackandandah Recycle Hub began with a simple question from a small community group, Plasticwise: what if we could make it easier for locals to recycle the tricky everyday items that never make it into the yellow bin?
Inspired by the Japanese village of Kamikatsu – a town of just 1,500 people that sorts its waste into 45 categories – Plasticwise realised that big change doesn’t need big systems. It needs committed people, a shared vision and a place to start. Plus, a set of retro filing cabinets generously donated by someone on Marketplace to really make it sing.
With a community grant from Halve Waste, donated filing cabinets and pro-bono design support from Story Shape, the Hub took shape. On 12 November 2022, the town came together to open it, joined by Helen Haines MP and former MP Cathy McGowan. Six clear collection streams were introduced – from oral-care items to bread tags, sports shoes to shaving razors – each one a small step toward reduced landfill and a more thoughtful way of living.
At the launch, Helen Haines captured the heart of the project: “That small town in Japan probably didn’t think they’d influence the small town of Yackandandah… and this town probably didn’t think it would influence other small towns around the nation. Leadership from everyday people in everyday locations can have worldwide implications.”
Today, the Recycle Hub is proof of that idea. It’s practical, volunteer-run and designed to grow as the community does. With the generous, ongoing contribution of a small number of community members, the hub just… works.
And most importantly, it’s a model any town can adopt – one cabinet, one category, one conversation at a time.
If you’re dreaming of building something similar where you live, we’ve put everything together here to help support you.