Mr Canniford said it was not an exclusively “North Somerset problem”. The UK is currently 20,000 to 40,000 bin lorry drivers short, he said.
He said part of the problem was the high demand for time off during summer.
“It’s hot, people want to be on their holidays,” he said.
“These were pre-booked a long time ago, then we find we got a shortage. It makes it really difficult.”
North Somerset Council is appealing for locals to help drive its bin lorries and said anyone with a HGV licence should contact them.
Mr Canniford said: “You can expect things to go back to normal.
“I’m not saying we won’t have these problems again in the future, simply because of the HGV issues, but we’re trying to find ways and work around that.”