General News
24 June, 2026
Put waste in correct bin
CAIRNS Regional Council is urging residents to recycle correctly as rising waste management costs place increasing pressure on the region’s waste services.
Cairns households generate about 50,000 tonnes of waste each year, costing council about $16 million to collect, process and dispose of.
The call comes after council found that more than 1500 tonnes of non-recyclable material were placed in yellow-lid recycling bins in 2025, representing 14.8% of all material collected through the kerbside recycling system.
Mayor Amy Eden said councils across Queensland were facing substantial increases in waste and recycling costs.
“Like other councils across Queensland, we are seeing substantial increases in the cost of providing waste and recycling services to our community,” she said.
“While council must recover the increasing costs of providing waste services, reducing contamination is one of the practical actions the community can take to help improve efficiency and reduce avoidable costs.”
One of the biggest concerns is the number of batteries ending up in household bins.
Resource recovery and waste management executive manager Steve Cosatto said batteries posed a significant risk to waste and recycling operations.
“Batteries are a real problematic waste for recycling,” he said.
“The composition audits that we do every year show that each resident throws away about 20 batteries a year in each bin.”
Mr Cosatto said the batteries ranged from small button batteries to lithium batteries, car batteries and batteries embedded in products such as scooters and vacuum cleaners.
“Every one of those batteries has the capacity to start a fire at some stage due to the processing that occurs,” he said.
Contamination occurs when items that cannot be recycled through the kerbside service, including soft plastics, bagged recyclables and food waste, are placed in yellow lid recycling bins. “One incorrect item might not seem like much, but across Cairns it adds up to thousands of tonnes each year and creates real pressure on the recycling system,” Cr Eden said.
“Contamination in recycling bins slows processing, increases maintenance requirements and reduces the amount of material that can be successfully recovered and recycled.
Council estimates that about 5000 tonnes of recyclable material are also being placed in red lid waste bins and sent to landfill each year, costing around $1.6 million. Residents are also throwing away an estimated 13 million eligible Containers for Change containers annually, worth about $1.3 million.
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