‘A year’s worth of landfill’: what will happen to all the waste from flood-damaged homes in Queensland and NSW?

Piles of flood-damaged goods in Lismore. Councils hit by the NSW and Queensland floods are worried piles of rubbish could become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and attract rats and mice. Photograph: Dan Peled/Getty Images

Mountains of waste pulled from flood-ravaged homes and businesses along Australia’s east coast are heading for landfill sites and temporary storage, but questions are being raised over a New South Wales government plan to store the rotting mounds at a quarry.

In Brisbane, the city’s mayor, Adrian Schrinner, said the floods had generated a year’s worth of landfill. Almost 30,000 cubic metres have already been dropped at council tips and recycling centres, but how much more is left was not known.