‘All sorts of bacteria’: floods have dumped a year’s worth of landfill on some NSW towns. Where will it go?

Trucks unload rubbish and debris from the Taree floods at a temporary tip on Kanangra Drive, north of town. It is expected the cleanup effort in Taree will take weeks. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

In a large field by the Taree greyhound track stands a huge pile of waterlogged and mud-caked waste, pulled from houses and businesses inundated by last week’s massive floods.

Among the mound are couches, fridges and piles and piles of broken furniture.