NOMINATED for Queensland’s Local Hero of the Year Award in 2018 for his work within the community, Logan City local Tony Sharp is still continuing his good work despite 2020 being a tough year for most.
One of his well-known community projects that has been running since late 2012 is Substation33.
The initiative, based in Kingston, recycles electronic waste such as steel, plastic, copper and electronics components that are then resold and repurposed, with only 8 per cent going into landfill.
“We collect and recycle electronic waste, that’s one thing we do, but we use that process to allow people to experience a workplace for, in a lot of cases, the very first time,” Mr Sharp said.
“Its purpose is to engage people that are marginalised from mainstream activities to make changes in their lives.
“It’s about employment outcomes and employability skills, and we use electronic waste as a medium to engage people.”
Mr Sharp says the idea of social enterprise Substation33 came about through an environmental and social consciousness.
“I’m in my sixties, and my generation has made some serious [environmental] mistakes,” he said. “I’ve got a four-year-old grandson, and I don’t want to leave a legacy for him that he and his mates can’t find their way out of.
“I think now there’s got to be a way to show that there’s a different way of going forward in the world and it doesn’t need to be fully consumerism.”
Mr Sharp says over the years, Logan locals have responded well to Substation33, which has developed products like electric bikes powered by recycled laptop batteries, and flood warning signs that won an Engineers Australia award for innovation.
“I think it’s become part of the community now,” he said. “It’s a very purposeful business.
“That response can also be measured through electronic waste. We collect around 200,000 to 250,000 kilograms of electronic waste a year, and that has a 97 per cent recovery rate, and that recovery rate means that those resources are going back into the manufacturing stream or back into the economy, not put into landfill.
“It’s a good thing for Logan, and I’m hoping in the future we will end up with other Substations scattered around parts of Queensland and maybe Australia.”
This year, despite the COVID lockdown, Mr Sharp did not stop his help within the community.
“The project was a middle of the night epiphany,” Mr Sharp said of the project to help underprivileged kids with laptops for homeschooling.
“When we went through COVID times and all young people were sent to homeschool, we knew some families’ homes did not have computers in them.”
Substation33 then began reaching out to some schools and communities in Logan.
“We would typically pull apart a laptop or computer, pre-COVID, because there was no marketplace for them.
“So, we decided to start building computers from parts that we had around the business.
“Everybody at Substation33 got onboard and pushed to get these computers out, and to date, we have sent out more than 1,200 machines to family homes in Logan.”
Mr Sharp says that in the new year, Substation33 will continue to build and send out computers and devices to families in need of them.
“The project hasn’t finished, we’ve just scratched the surface,” he said.
Mr Sharp is also a big supporter of encouraging other entrepreneurs and young engineers to work on their ideas. He runs two hackathons each year, one for social start-ups and the other for Engineers Without Borders, an organisation that allows engineers to contribute and expand on new development projects.
“That coworking space is really important to us,” Mr Sharp said. “If people have an idea or concept, if they want to do something in their community, if they are a young entrepreneur, or emerging entrepreneur, just get started.
“Stop talking about, stop thinking about it, and just get started.”
