Meet the recycling hero fighting for disability awareness and inclusion

By Jennifer McMillan 1 February 2023

Josh is a 25-year-old man who was born with cerebral palsy. He is on a mission to inspire his 12,000 Twitter followers to play their part in recycling.

Living with a disability Josh uses numerous medical consumables every day. Items include latex gloves, foam dressings, baby wipes, steel tins and other medical items. Of all the consumables, only the steel tins are recyclable and the rest end up in landfill. 

Frustrated by the high number of unavoidable medical consumables he saw going to landfill, Josh was inspired to keep recyclable materials in circulation for as long as possible. With the help of his carer Ben and mother Neeva, he started his recycling journey to inspire others through positive environmental actions.  

Last year, Josh started ‘Josh’s Jobs’, a service where he visits local businesses in his hometown of Perth to collect a variety of recyclable items to dispose them correctly. Items include printer cartridges, polystyrene, bottles and cans. Josh also shreds unwanted and classified paper documents donating them to animal shelters.  

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— Josh Stephen (@joshjoshbegosh) January 25, 2023

Josh’s carer Ben says, “Recycling Near You has been a one stop shop to find out what can go where”.

This year, Josh plans to expand his operations to offer recycling for clothing through H&M, batteries and cartridges through Officeworks as well as cans and bottles with Containers for Change (Western Australia's container deposit scheme).  

Josh is hoping to inspire his large Twitter following to play their part in recycling and show that anyone can be a catalyst for change. 

Find out more about product stewardship schemes and become a changemaker in your community, just like Josh.