Long delays were experienced at Sutherland Shire Council’s collection of household chemical waste at Miranda on the weekend.
Cars queued for 300 metres at times to enter the car park of the Bellingara netball courts, where the collection centre was located.
The extremely hot weather made conditions very difficult for the big team of workers.
One motorist, who went to the centre about 1pm on Sunday, took nearly an hour to unload.
A worker said it was the biggest turnout ever experienced in the shire, and Saturday was even busier than Sunday.
Sutherland Shire Council runs two chemical waste collections a year, where residents can drop off a range of items, including paint, pesticides and herbicides, poisons, fuels, batteries, gas bottles, fire extinguishers, oil, pool chemicals and household cleaners.
The council plans to open a permanent recycling centre for chemical waste at Kareela, but it is not expected to open until July, 2017.
Last year, the state government announced a grant of $223,000 towards the $250,000 project.
The facility will operate seven days a week, from 8am-4pm Monday to Friday and 8am-midday on Saturday.
It will be located on a site off Bates Drive that was once a Sydney Water sullage depot and, at present, is used by the council for storage.
Funding was provided under the $11.35 million Waste Less, Recycle More program.