Author: Leah Morgan

We all produce waste that is just a fact of life but whilst we are travelling we don’t have the same level of access to waste management services. It goes without saying if you had room to bring it in, you have room to take it out, but no one wants to spend their whole trip with a smelly bag of rubbish.

Like everything else whilst travelling in the Cape you need to prepare and plan for waste management. There are a few waste disposal options scattered throughout Cape York it is just a matter of knowing where they are and what you can dispose of. In this post I am going to provide you with that information and some resources to help you during your trip.

What waste disposable options are available within the Cape York:

• Rest Areas and Campground Bins – most have rubbish bins for you to dispose of your rubbish use them. If they are full which is possible at certain times of the year take it to the next bin that has room. There are wild pigs and dogs all through the cape and whilst you think it is ok someone will take it when they collect the bins, chances are a pig or dog will get to it first and the rubbish will be spread everywhere. The rangers that look after these areas try their best to get out a few times a week to empty them but just be responsible.
• Remote Caged Trenches – There are a few caged trenches located throughout the Cape to dispose of general waste. They are pretty much just a large hole in the ground with a cage over to top to stop people falling and the feral animals. Caged trenches are positioned next to the road for easy access by travellers.
• Recycling Stations – These are mainly located in the built up areas but there are some at the stations and roadhouses. These are just normal recycling stations and take cans, bottles and some also take paper waste.
• Landfill/Waste Transfer Stations – These are just your average garbage tips some of these have fees for disposing of your waste others don’t. Most importantly they have varying opening hours so you will need to plan your trip.
• Collections for Charities – Moreton Telegraph Station collect cans for the Australian Flying Doctor Service. All you need to do is drop them in and they do the rest. The Flying Doctors offer a great service to rural/remote Australia and this is a great way to help them out without too much effort.
• Containers for Change – This is the Queensland Government container refund scheme. This is a mobile service for 10c refund scheme on bottles and cans. You need to have Containers for Change account to access this service. There are no full time collection facilities and most of these only open once a week for a few hours so once again this is something that you will need to plan around. It is normally a trailer or a cage with the machine that moves around servicing the Cape. Most importantly you need to be registered for the scheme and the money is transferred into your nominated account.

The interactive map below shows the locations of all the facilities throughout the Cape. By clicking on one of the icons it will open up the full details of the facility. There is also a basic pdf version of the map with a table with basic information about the points that can be downloading to your device for reference whilst travelling or print them (but it is better to reduce the waste).

Now unfortunately it has become a fact of life that wherever you go there is going to be waste left behind by someone and it is not something that can be fixed overnight but it is possible for everyone to make a difference by refusing, reducing and reusing what they can out of the waste they produce. Hopefully through education we can make a difference to not only Cape York but all over Australia.