Recycling In Wadeye

The recycling program at Wadeye was established by the Thamarrurr Rangers in 2016, following years of collecting marine debris from the vast 250 km coastline of the Thamarrurr Region. The Rangers looked at ways of reducing the source of this rubbish, and found that 70% consisted of plastic bottles, cans and other beverage containers. This led to the decision to start a Container Deposit Scheme (CDS)collection point in the community.

The Wadeye Community has been highly receptive to the recycling program, and have earnt over
$100,000 in refunds from beverage containers, and over $4,000 from old car batteries. In addition,
Rangers have worked on increasing community awareness about the harmful impacts of rubbish on the
land, sea and wildlife, and promoted opportunities for re-use and recycling.