The verdict over the dumping of earth mounds containing asbestos is in and it's not good news for Wollongong City Council.

A damning independent review of the council's use of illegal dumping prevention barriers along the Old Princes Highway between Waterfall and Sublime Point was released last week, which highlights wide-ranging failures in the council's procedures and systems when dealing with waste materials.

The review, conducted by IAB, made 50 recommendations including waste legislation training for council staff and contractors and to explore a council-managed construction waste depot in the northern suburbs, all of which will be put to councillors who were meeting on Monday night.

Due to the serious mistakes, the council took the unusual step of holding a press conference ahead of the council meeting, led by the city's general manager, David Farmer. He said he was disappointed and embarrassed about what had happened but was determined the errors would not be repeated.

The Illegal Dumping Infrastructure Project, designed to reduce illegal dumping in blackspot areas, was allocated $108,000 last financial year but came under the spotlight for its own illegality in April when a resident contacted the Illawarra Mercury, concerned about the mounds containing asbestos.

An EPA sample and further council sampling of the material confirmed the presence of bonded asbestos and the council removed the mounds.

A council environment strategy and planning staffer co-ordinating the project sourced what they believed to be "clean fill" from council excavation works, and with the help of staff from city works and services arranged for 100 loads (about 1000 tonnes) to be transported to the sites.

The review highlighted many failures, including a lack of appropriate project management systems, poor stakeholder communication, confusion and ignorance of waste management laws, inadequate supervision and support of supervisors and staff. Systemic problems were also identified, including a lack of clear guidelines on waste and materials handling processes, lack of training for work crews and supervisors, lack of accountability and lack of review of completed jobs.

Mr Farmer said the council dealt with asbestos effectively on many larger jobs but the normal project management approach was not followed for the mounds and it was "a clear failing and lack of judgment".

"Because of that a whole range of planning design and review of environmental factors was not conducted," he said.

"Secondly it [the review] also identified some concerns about our lack of knowledge and processes in how we reuse material and handle construction waste.

"I was extremely disappointed but when things happen you have to deal with them, you have to develop a plan and you have to fix them.

"Like it or not, this is a large organisation with many, many moving parts and from time to time things go wrong. The critical thing is not what happened but how you deal with it and make sure it cannot happen again."

Mr Farmer said the problem had been identified and a rectification plan drawn up, which would be tested by the governance committee and an audit.

Mr Farmer refused to say whether any heads would roll.

"Ultimately I am the leader of this organisation and when things go right or things go wrong, I take responsibility but we're all a team and there's accountability up and down the line."

Ward 1 councillor Leigh Colacino said the dumping barriers were a good idea but poorly executed.

"The main thing for me and the people in the northern suburbs is we've seen this problem of illegal dumping ... when the Helensburgh tip was closed, that's when people thought I'm going to be a dumper," Cr Colacino said.