Bookings for the Wollongong City Council flood damage clean-up close at the end of today, Friday April 19, with more than 520 households already waiting for a pickup.
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And the fee-free flood waste tipping at Whytes Gully will also end this weekend, after the council said numbers of people using the waiver had been decreasing almost two weeks on from the flooding.
By mid-Thursday the council and its waste contractor Remondis had received a total of more than 1300 calls for waste collection bookings post-floods, and had got round to more than 780 of these households, it said.
More than 2600 extra tonnes of waste have been taken to the Whytes Gully landfill as a result of flood damage pickups, the council said.
With many streets across Wollongong still piled with flood-damaged household goods, Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said Remondis had "ramped up" its normal weekday rubbish collection service.
Cr Bradbery asked people to be patient as they waited for collection, and urged people not to take advantage by putting out non-flood waste.
"While we have completed a large number of collections, we are still working our way through the rest of the bookings, and this will take some time," Cr Bradbery said.
"We thank our community for their continued support and patience. Please know that we're prioritising cleanup and repair work around the community based on need.
"This free additional, on-call household cleanup service is coming to an end this Friday, almost two weeks on from the weather event, as we're now reaching the point where we're seeing residents put out waste for clean-up that's not flood affected.
"This behaviour isn't on as it slows our ability to help those in actual need and uses up valuable air space at our waste facility."
Bookings for the free flood kerbside collection close at 5pm Friday, April 19. Call Remondis on 1300 362360 or council on 42277111.
Fee-free flood-affected green and general waste tipping at Whytes Gully will close at 4pm Sunday, April 21.