General and Plastic Waste

Hi Wardah,

There is an image of the rubbish collection vehicle that services the Saibai community in the Waste Management Gallery (last image).

Domestic waste is collected twice per week with a rubbish truck free of charge for residential properties and with an annual levy applied for commercial properties. If you’re after operating costs, this is not publicly available but you can make some reasonable assumptions based on the collection service. Note that the waste is processed centrally on the island and containerised for shipping to the mainland via Sea Swift – you’ll need to factor this in to your costings.

In terms of the average amount of plastic waste produced per household, we don’t have the exact number (partly because there is no recycling facility on Saibai so everything is sent to the landfill). However, you can make some reasonable assumptions based on data for Queensland. Have a look at this Recycling and waste in Queensland report which gives you a make up of waste in the state, from there you can deduce it for Saibai by taking into account the population, as well as the facilities available.

It might also be helpful to consider the limited options for consumer goods (they only have 1 grocery store on the island) and there is a predominance of single-use plastics in such contexts. So, plastics bags, food packaging, and beverage containers might contribute to it.

Here are some additional links which you may find helpful

• TSIRC Waste Management and Recycling
• TSIRC Fees & Charges
• CEQ launches innovative recycling project across remote Torres Strait Island and Cape York communities

Cheers,
Anthony

• This reply was modified 2 days, 12 hours ago by Anthony Brady.