Wollongong City Council has been dealing with illegal dumping controversies recently, but further south in Albion Park Rail, Shellharbour City Council has had rubbish woes of its own.
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On Thursday, a truck driver on a routine bin collection run spotted smoke in his near-full tray about noon, and was forced to dump his load on the side of the road. Firefighters rushed to Jarrah Way to find a huge mound of recycling paper and cardboard on fire.
"It was about 10 metres long, two metres high and three metres across," Peter Eastment, station officer at Albion Park fire station, said.
"We think somebody has put hot ashes in the bin, so when the truck came and picked it up, it got dumped in the truck with paper and caught alight."
A council front-end loader helped to dispose of the waste, Mr Eastmen said.
A council spokesman said the truck had returned to the Remondis depot for safety inspections.
"It is unknown what caused the fire and information will be supplied to nearby homes as a reminder of the materials that can be recycled," the spokesman said.
