The 308-centimetre-high by 600-centimetre-long sculpture has taken up residence in the centre of King George Square in Brisbane until Monday afternoon where it will be toured around the state.

After a decade of collecting litter of the beaches, Day joined the Containers for Change, a government scheme to provide a 10¢ refund for each beverage container from November 1, to design the sculpture.

Day said he moved from wood sculptures and painting to marine debris artwork when he became aware of the litter issue in his area aftera visit to his local beach at Shoal Point.

"One day (my son and I) went for a walk down the beach and we had a competition when we first sort of noticed the rubbish," he said.

"In half an hour, we collected over 22 cigarette lighters.

"At that point, when I counted the amount of lighters we actually found in the short distance of the beach and in such a short period of time I thought, 'wow, something's really got to be done.'

"That's when I started making my art, using litter I find on the beaches like thongs and bottles, to create awareness of this problem."

Day said he hoped the fish sculpture, titled Queensland, Look at the State We’re In, would help create change with the scheme.

"I'm passionate about this cause because I think there's another place for rubbish to be besides the beach," he said.

"We are at a tipping point for plastic waste in our environment and we really need to act now.

"...I truly believe that once this initiative is brought into place that we'll instantly see a reduction in this type of litter found in out waterways, stream systems and ultimately end up in the ocean."

Acting chairman of Container Exchange Alby Taylor said it was important Queenslanders understood the problem the scheme was trying to fix.

“This sculpture is a clear demonstration of how much waste is in our waterways – through implementing the Containers for Change scheme we will see litter reduce in our oceans, rivers and creeks and recycling increase,” he said.

Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch said the sculpture was created to highlight the environmental need to introduce the recycling scheme.

"It is about sending a strong message about what we’re seeing in our streams," she said.

"We know in Queensland we use about 3 billion beverage containers each year.

"This is absolutely the next step for Queensland in terms of our recycling efforts, in our efforts to reduce our landfill and of course support recycling in Queensland."

Ms Enoch said the scheme waould be one step closer to shedding the state's title of being the litter capital of Australia.

"When you see nationally that Queensland is the litter capital of Australia, it’s these kinds of schemes that become even more important," she said.

"We’ve seen our plastic bag band come into play for the first of July this year, which will continue to help to reduce that particular item in our litter stream.

"But containers being the second largest item in terms of what we see in our litter stream, this is now an opportunity to get rid of that title of the litter capital of the country."

Ms Enoch said she encouraged residents to get online and register for the scheme before next month.

“It’s not long now until November 1, when Queenslanders will be able to get 10 cents back for every container they return, or choose to give the containers to a charity or community organisation,” she said.

“When containers are littered on land, they can make their way into our drains and creeks, and ultimately reach the ocean.

“It’s time to do something about plastic pollution."

Ms Enoch also announced $1 million would also go towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to ensure they had the infrastructure to deliver the scheme.