The Cooks River Alliance, in partnership with member councils and the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), is implementing a coordinated roadmap to reduce litter across Cooks River catchment.
In the 2021 Cooks River Community Values survey, you told us your vision for the river is for it to become “a loved and healthy river valley enriching the heart of Sydney,” with the river becoming free of litter and debris listed among the top three priorities.
Guided by this vision and funded through NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials (WASM) Stream 3 grant, the Alliance is taking a collaborative, coordinated approach to litter prevention at the catchment scale to significantly reduce litter before it reaches the river.
Why a Catchment approach?
One River, Many communities, One shared responsibility……
Litter is one of the biggest challenges in our Catchment. Litter dropped anywhere in the catchment can be transported through drains, creeks and stormwater channels before entering the Cooks River and ultimately Botany Bay. Water does not recognise council boundaries, hence, effective litter prevention requires collaboration across entire catchment rather than isolated local actions.
The NSW Key Littered Items Study (KLIS) provides information on the composition of litter found in urban estuaries along NSW coast. Being densely populated, Cooks River Catchment site accounts for about 60% of all litter by volume surveyed across ten monitoring sites, making litter prevention in this catchment critical to achieving broader state targets, as cleaning litter from the river is important, but preventing it from entering waterways has a far greater environmental benefit!
Every item prevented from entering a stormwater drain is one less item reaching the river
Our work focuses on preventing litter through:
A catchment wide approach allows us to share litter monitoring data across councils, identify litter hotspots before they impact waterways, coordinate behaviour change campaigns, share successful initiatives between councils and measure environmental outcomes across whole Cooks River. This aligns with our Cooks River Litter Prevention Strategy, that emphasises coordinated action, data driven decision making and collaboration across government, community and other relevant stakeholders.
The Cooks River Litter Prevention Strategy was developed to bring councils, government agencies, community groups and local residents together with a shared goal—to stop litter before it reaches our waterways. Rather than simply cleaning up litter after it enters the river, the Strategy focuses on preventing litter at its source through education, behaviour change, better infrastructure, targeted action and strong partnerships across the entire catchment. This collaborative, evidence-based approach set an ambitious target of 50% less litter by 2025. We are proud to have achieved this milestone (Refer to the 50% litter reduction target achieved report), demonstrating that when communities work together across the catchment, real and lasting environmental improvements are possible for the Cooks River.
Building on our success
Achieving the 50% litter reduction target is a significant milestone, but it is not the end of the journey. Ongoing monitoring, continued collaboration and targeted prevention initiatives will help maintain progress, respond to emerging litter challenges and support the long-term health of the Cooks River. The report notes that continued ALM and KLIS monitoring is essential to confirm long-term trends and guide future action.
Our member councils in action
Each council plays an active role in keeping the river clean. Click on the council logos to explore their local initiatives:
Other Stakeholders
Other Stakeholders participating actively in litter reduction across the Cooks River Catchment:
