28-06-2025
Circular economy of a new age of old stuff flourishes as Australians scrimp and save
A few minutes walking the aisles of an opportunity shop are enough for a shopper to ponder how utilitarian and disposable Australia's society has become.
The artefacts of a passing generation go begging for sale.
At any op shop around Australia brooches, stoles, clutch purses and gloves, as well as floral teacups, doilies and crystal vases come together in a cluttered shrine of sorts to a generation that survived two world wars.
The Depression-era salvage mentality of keeping the good stuff for a special occasion was drummed into the post-war generation.
But by the late 1960s cheap imports, mass manufacturing, plastics and technology would pave the way for a more casual, comfort and convenience-driven Australian lifestyle.
Modern families thought nothing of disposing of unwanted items and replacing them with something new.
Stradbroke-based recycler Nathan Bruce has made it his life's mission to reduce waste wherever possible, clearing unwanted items from deceased estates, downsizers, garage sales and hoarders.
"I recycle everything. When it comes to deceased estates I do whole properties, so I will recycle a broken brick, a rusty tin, even putting a piece of paper into a cardboard bin to reduce the waste however I can," he said.
"It's mainly older people who are downsizing and don't have the ability to do it themselves, or the family is not willing to help. That's where I come in."
In building his Aladdin's cave crammed with antiques, records, DVDs, Tupperware, electric goods and bric-a-brac, Mr Bruce has come across everything from rats to 200-year-old coins in his hunt for treasure.
Hazardous items like mouldy books and chipped ceramics must be thrown out, and not all plastics can be recycled.
But the licensed second-hand dealer is determined to upcycle and sell the unsellable at his shopfront in Sale.
Broken appliances are pulled apart for their wood, motors, copper and wires.
"Silver is not worth much, about $1 a gram. Depending on the gold value a broken ring can get up to $30 to $40 a gram from some jewellers as scrap gold," Mr Bruce said,
"Copper is about $10 to $11 a kilo so it all builds up if you have hundreds of pieces together. They're worth something."
Mr Bruce said it was younger generations who were driving the second-hand and recycling movement as they dealt with their concerns for the environment and rising cost-of-living.
At Morwell in the Latrobe Valley, vacant shops line the main street against a backdrop of a bustling op shop trade.
William Smith is the warehouse coordinator at the Lifeline Gippsland thrift store and said women's clothing was always their biggest seller.
"We never get enough men's clothing donated and that's because men generally wear their stuff until it dies. Then it gets thrown out," he said.
"Whereas women tend to change their clothes regularly."
Mr Smith said op shops had become the department stores of choice for the working poor and cash-strapped middle-class.
"Shein, Anko, Temu, they're very much fast fashion where you wear it once and it's ruined," he said.
"If you're going into an op shop you've got that potential of finding a quality item at a bargain price.
"We don't want junk. Basically the best thing to think about when you're donating is, 'Would you buy it from or sell it to a family member?'"
Mr Smith said old towels and blankets were often purchased by animal shelters, dog kennels and catteries, or cut up to be used as rags.
"We have a secondary process where any old towels, windcheaters and T-shirts that we can't sell we repurpose into rags and we sell them in 10-kilogram bags to the industrial sector," he said.
He said donations of crockery and bric-a-brac were always welcomed.
"We sort it and we sell what we can, and what we can't we sell to an exporter, who then sells it on the second-hand market in developing countries overseas," Mr Smith said.
"That way we can still raise money for our cause, which is the crisis line for Lifeline, and it doesn't end up in landfill."
East Gippsland Shire Council waste minimisation officer Carina Turner said tremendous inroads had been made to improve sustainability and de-stigmatise hand-me-downs.
"Repair cafes, tool libraries, general libraries and toy libraries are all part of a circular economy," she said.
Ms Turner noted the success of initiatives like the container deposit scheme, which has been embraced by community groups for fundraising.
"There's still an awful lot going in to landfill so we haven't yet solved the problem by any stretch of the imagination. But we are keeping more and more items out of landfill," she said.
Ms Turner said new technologies had allowed for mattress springs to be recycled into fencing and polystyrene packaging to be turned into bricks.
"More and more customers are expecting that the company that they choose to buy from will have sustainability as part of their business models," she said.
