Cairns Airport
Connecting the world with the Great Barrier Reef, and protecting local environments.
20k+
average cups saved each month
(Jan - July 24)
Fortnightly
paper cup pick ups
5m
passengers
each year
Cairns Airport connects people with the world's largest coral reef system, the Great Barrier Reef and Australia's iconic tropical rainforests.
As a gateaway to so many treasured landscapes, Cairns Airport is committed to lead by example and operate in an environmentally responsible and sustainable manner to keep Australia's rich environments thriving.
Image: Cairns Airport connects millions with the Great Barrier Reef.
A huge impact
In 2024, Cairns Airport is one of the highest monthly Cup Collectors, collecting, on average 20,000+ paper cups such as coffee cups from their venue!
​
If paper cups were stacked end-to-end, that's 2.5km of paper cups that are saved every month from landfill!
Recycling champions
Cairns Airport make recycling easy for their passengers, staff and operators. Between August 2023 and 2024, more than 80% of waste collected at Cairns Airport was diverted from landfill through recycling programs.
​​
Simply Cups is a part of their recycling system. Paper cups collected at Cairns Airport are recycled with Simply Cups.
Cairns Airport encourage people to recycle their paper cups throughout the facility and at popular single-use paper cup usage areas such as beside coffee outlets in the terminal. ​​​​
Image: Separating waste to save as much from landfill as possible.
Image: The team leading sustainability at the facility.
Cairns Airport has invested in a waste separation facility back of house.
A dedicated full-time resource hand-sorts waste and separates into specific waste streams, this means that recyclables can be sent for recycling instead of sent to landfill.
Sustainability initiatives at Cairns Airport
Their ongoing dedication to preserving communities and the local environments can also be seen through a range of initiatives such as:
Food organics composting
Food waste from the facility is managed on-site and delivered to Cairns Community Gardens for composting, enriching the soil and produce of the gardens!
Operator engagement
Cairns Airport work closely with food and beverage operators to ensure waste is captured effectively. In large facilities, it can be hard to engage with all operators. Cairns Airport ensure operators are mindful of their goals and work together to achieve these sustainability goals.
Community donations
Eligible containers are collected and redeemed under the Containers for Change scheme. On average, this initiative raises $2,500 for local charities every month.
Education
Cairns Airport have invited Tourism Tropical North Queensland staff and members to see how waste is managed at the facility - from waste collection to separation.
This page was last updated in September 2024