Waste is unnecessary, unintelligent, unsustainable, and uncommercial: Josh Robinson, JR Hammer

About this episode

Josh Robinson shares his journey of transforming the recycling industry through innovative PVC insulation recovery methods.

Josh Robinson, founder of JR Hammer, is a story that turns everything you thought you knew about recycling upside down.When China slammed its doors shut to the world's recyclables in 2018, Australia's scrap industry panicked. Hundreds of tons of copper cables suddenly had nowhere to go. Most saw disaster. Josh saw opportunity. "Working in sustainability, if you're shipping things offshore just to ship them back again, you're defeating the purpose," Josh told me, with the clarity of someone who's found his mission. His ability to create value from what others threw away fascinated me. While everyone focused on the copper, Josh tackled the forgotten half of every cable – the PVC insulation typically sent to landfill. In an industry where recovery rates hover at a dismal 2-5%, Josh's innovations now achieve over 90%. The journey wasn't smooth. Italian technicians installing his equipment literally fled Australia with two hours' notice when pandemic borders closed, leaving Josh barely trained on complex machinery he'd have to operate alone for months. His persistence is changing an industry. JR Hammer has secured federal grants, pioneered Australia's first operational solar PVC…

People in this episode

Host: Rick Merten

Guest: Josh Robinson

Topics covered

• sustainability
• recycling
• circular economy
• innovation
• environmental solutions

Keywords

• recycling
• sustainability
• circular economy
• PVC insulation
• JR Hammer
• copper cables
• federal grants
• solar recycling plant

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: JR Hammer

Places: Australia

More episodes of Engineering Success

• Scaling an Engineering Business Beyond Technical Work: Michael Jones on Systems and Structure · May 26, 2026 · 40 min
• From Migrant Teenager to Business Owner: Jocelyn Do on Building a Civil Engineering Firm · April 23, 2026 · 30 min
• Balancing Engineering Rigour With Commercial Reality: Kym Wilkinson, Wilkinson Shaw and Associates · March 23, 2026 · 41 min
• Building Discipline Into Growth: Shannon Neyland on Sustainable Engineering Leadership · February 26, 2026 · 44 min
• Pushing Limits Without Compromising Safety: Tim Cartledge, Cartledge Mining and Geotechnics · January 28, 2026 · 40 min
• Merging Firms to Multiply Impact: Moussa Youssef, Vanguard Consulting Engineers · November 25, 2025 · 42 min