The kerbside clean-up following the record flood of February-March may have ended but the operation continues with an average of 100 truckloads of flood debris still being collected each day.
More than 63,000 tonnes of flood waste, including household goods, mud, debris and asbestos has been collected during the massive clean-up operation so far.
Of this, more than 18,000 tonnes of flood waste was collected from properties, homes and businesses across the Tweed and delivered to Stotts Creek Resource Recovery Centre, in a 9-week operation that was largely completed by late April.
But while the kerbside clean-up may have finished, the roadside clean-up will continue for many months to come with excavated material such as soil, mud, rocks and fallen trees from landslips, blocked culverts and roadside drains still being collected and removed from the Tweed's battered road network.
To date, approximately 45,000 tonnes of excavated material has been collected, equating to approximately 3,500 truck movements. However, this figure is continuing to rise, with an average of 100 truckloads of flood debris still being collected each day and expected to continue for months to come.
The aim is for the majority of excavated materials to be reused on various projects around the Tweed in line with Council's sustainability initiatives.
The figure is significantly higher than that collected following the 2017 flood, when approximately 45,000 tonnes of flood waste was collected in total. This was made up of almost 20,000 tonnes of household waste and approximately 25,000 tonnes of excavated material.
Mayor of Tweed Chris Cherry said while the trauma remained for many residents some 14 weeks on from the flood, it was good to see some progress in the recovery.
"The completion of the flood waste clean-up from kerbsides across the Tweed is a relief but there's still a long way to go for many residents suffering from the trauma of the disaster," Cr Cherry said.
"Although some flood waste is still trickling in, the majority has been removed. I'd once again like to thank Council staff, Australian Defence Force personnel, Rural Fire Service and waste contractors who helped clean up the Tweed so quickly.
"The huge amount of extra work was well handled by Council's resource recovery, construction and contracts teams who took on this mammoth task on top of their everyday jobs. The NSW Public Works Advisory team was also pivotal in coordinating an army of contractors assisting Council with the clean-up."
More than 1,440 tonnes of Asbestos Containing Material (ACM) was also collected and disposed of responsibly after this year's flood. This included asbestos accepted from the Tweed and surrounding Council areas as their flood-affected facilities were unable to process the material.
Flood waste collected at Stotts Creek Resource Recovery Centre was processed and exported to a commercial landfill in south-east Queensland. Council would like to thank the Queensland Government for waiving its waste levy for flood waste as well as the NSW Government for covering the transport and disposal charges of this waste.
Residents can request fill material by application at tweed.nsw.gov.au/disposal-of-fill.
Find all the information you need to rebuild and recover at Council's flood recovery dashboard at tweed.nsw.gov.au/recovery-dashboard.
