Collecting tonnes of rubbish from rivers in the far north of NSW has been an emotional experience at times, as workers come across personal items like children's school bags with the books still inside.
"Sadly, the machine itself was really badly damaged and couldn't be reused but it has been recycled."Specialist marine contractor Frankie Bryant said her team had been concentrating for the past month on the Wilsons River near Lismore, which was at the centre of the natural disaster.
"We can actually sometimes get stuck in little areas where you just find me up pulling small pieces of plastic," she said.The rubbish is collected on smaller boats then moved to skip bins on barges.Larger waste is collected with excavators that are floated around the river on barges.Ms Bryant said there was a huge effort made to try and return items wherever possible.
For contractor John Fletcher, it has been, at times, an emotional experience wading through personal items.
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