Waste strategy

Waste management in Australia is in transition. We are starting to accept that our current rate of consumption of natural resources is not acceptable and we need to be more efficient in managing and recovering our resources in a way that minimises environmental and public health impacts and maximises the value returned from the materials recovered.

Council’s Waste Reduction and Recycling Strategy builds on our past achievements and sets out how the waste and resource recovery needs of the Cairns region will be met from 2018-2027, providing a strategic direction for moving Cairns toward a future where landfills are the last option.

At the heart of the strategy is the need to change our perception of waste. We all need to start viewing waste as a potential resource and think about how we can use it more efficiently.

Our five objectives focus on addressing the current resource recovery and waste management challenges and opportunities in the Cairns region, as follows:

• Provide education and awareness empowering our community to embrace waste avoidance, reduction and reuse
• Reduce waste where Council and community take responsibility for reducing their own waste and using resources effectively
• Maximise resource recovery to reduce landfill disposal through resource recovery opportunities
• Secure our future needs where our capacity and capability to manage future waste is secured
• Advocacy and collaboration to lead strategic alliances and partnerships to support best practices in waste management