Clean Up Australia – Clean Up Cam

Clean Up Australia's litter data feeds CSIRO's national waste analysis and provides evidence to hold packaging corporations to account. Getting data back from events was the problem. When an event concluded, volunteers were asked to dump out a bag of collected rubbish and manually tally the contents against a list of categories. After hours of picking up other people's rubbish in often unpleasant conditions, almost nobody did it. A digital version of the same form improved response rates marginally. The litter data reaching CSIRO remained sparse and inconsistent, and the accountability it was meant to support went with it.

The barrier was not the form. No amount of digitisation would change the fact that volunteers at the end of an exhausting day were not willing to re-engage with collected rubbish.Clean Up Cam removes that moment entirely. Volunteers photograph litter as they collect it throughout the event, one to three items per photo, on their own device. When the event concludes, AI analyses every photo against CSIRO's 66-plus litter categories. The volunteer's only job is picking up rubbish and taking photos.

For the first time, Clean Up Australia can capture structured, geolocated litter data from every volunteer across every event. That data feeds CSIRO's national waste analysis, maps trends by region, site type and season, and identifies which companies' packaging ends up in Australia's environment most frequently. Every participant receives a personalised summary of what their event found, the categories, the quantities, how their site compared. At scale, that means a complete picture of litter across Australia and how it changes over time, something that has never been possible before.

QR code check-inVolunteers scan an event code to register, complete indemnity and link their photos to the correct event in a single step, replacing paper forms entirely.In-event photo captureVolunteers photograph litter throughout the cleanup on their own device, one to three items per photo. No app download required.Field-resilient uploadsPhotos save locally if connectivity drops and upload automatically when it restores, so poor signal at an outdoor site does not lose data.Supervisor dashboardEvent coordinators see check-ins and photo submissions in real time during the event, without any manual tracking.Post-event summary emailEvery participant receives a personalised litter breakdown after the event, including top categories, item counts and a comparison to other events. Previously only supervisors received post-event communication.Grace period Photo uploads are accepted for two hours after the event concludes, allowing late submissions without disrupting the AI analysis.Accessibility Screen reader support and keyboard navigation are built in throughout. Every field is labelled and every error message explains the action required.