Cost for the current waste management program on Saibai Island.

[Xige WangParticipant]

Hi, we want to create a cost comparison between the prospect cost of our project and the current cost of transporting waste back to Australia. We tried to look for information on waste management cost break down for Saibai island or for Torres Strait Island as a whole, but could not find much useful information. Is any statistics available? Thank you!

[Tom NguyenKeymaster]

Hi Xige

TSIRC are not a rates based council. Instead, there are household waste management charges https://portal.lgsolutions.net.au/Fees/Public/TSIRC

Seaswift operates 40-foot (12m × 2.4m × 2.6m) containers on their barge service. You can assume tonnage of compacted waste able to be transported in this.

You can assume $4,500 shipping cost for that container for transport back to the mainland (you can also work out your $/tonnage rate).

[Xige WangParticipant]

Hi Tom, thank you for your reponse, we have considered the Seaswift cost in our project, how ever we would also like to know what is the current frequency of transporting waste back to Australia? And is it 1 cargo container per trip? So we can calculate the current cost vs our cost. Was not able to find any infomation on that.

[Tom NguyenKeymaster]

Hi Xige

Shipping schedules in 2025 show a barge arriving at Saibai around once every 7 days as part of the weekly circuit. This allows for inbound and outbound transportation of goods and services.

QLD Vessels & Freight Receivals

Have a look at this photo – you can make some assumptions on the amount of cargo containers that can be transported in the weekly run to Saibai

https://tsirc.qld.gov.au/news-events/news/tsirc-and-sea-swift-media-release/

[Author]

Posts