ABC Far North

'They reckon I can talk rubbish all day!' This statement by Cook Shire councillor Alan Wilson may well be true, but the rubbish he talks affects us all. Cr Wilson has spent the past 15 years campaigning for a container deposit scheme, in a bid to rid our roadsides of the blight of litter.

'Everytime I bought it up, I had food and drinks stewardship representatives stand over me and shake their fist and say to me you'll never see a refund scheme in Queensland,' he said. 'Now it seems funny the people running the scheme are the same who were against it.'

But despite achieving his goal, you won't hear this longtime Cape York Peninsula resident say 'I told you so'. He's already turned his attention to improving the scheme, particularly for residents in rural and remote areas.

'I'm quite happy with the way things are going... I would like to see more drop off points and easier for the public to return their containers but it's early days yet."

With one year left in his final term in local government, he also has his sights set on trialing an incentive scheme in Cooktown where householders are encouraged to separate waste material to avoid costly dump fees.

You can listen back to our full interview with Alan Wilson here: https://www.abc.net.au/…/cash-for-container-scheme…/11224014