About seven miles (11km) of shoreline, including beaches at Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and from Scratby to North Denes, were affected by the flooding.
On Scratby beach alone, it is believed there are about 6,000 sq metres (65,000 sq ft) of waste, 3ft deep (1 metre).
The operation is expected to take several weeks.
Before Christmas, staff from Great Yarmouth Borough Council took away any potentially hazardous material, including gas bottles, fridges and freezers.
Now workers are left with glass, wire and wood to dispose of.
George Jarvis, from Great Yarmouth Borough Services, said a lot of manpower was being used to sift through the debris.
"We did consider burning on the beach, but looking at the weather forecast we're due to have quite a lot of wet weather this week," he said.
"Also the prevailing winds coming in from the sea would have blown quite a lot of thick, black smoke into public areas."
There is no estimate for the total cost of the clear-up, as it is not yet known how long it will take.
The council hopes to recoup the money spent through the government's Bellwin Scheme.
The Bellwin Scheme was introduced in the 1980s to provide some government support for flood-hit areas, but only provides funds for temporary flood measures and the work must be undertaken within two months of the flood.

Robert Boyd-Stevenson, 38, of Headford Road, Bristol, had admitted a charge of making a bomb hoax by communicating false information last year.
He texted security threats to a phone linked to the airport on 29 August.
The airport remained open but raised its security threat level and police officers were called to the scene.
Days earlier, Bristol Airport had been evacuated in a separate, unconnected bomb scare.
CCTV footage showed Boyd-Stevenson topping up the phone in Knowle West at 05:39 that morning and in the airport itself at about 06:00 BST.
He was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday.
PC Simon Broad said the "strength of evidence against him" had meant Boyd-Stevenson admitted his guilt early on.
"Robert Boyd-Stevenson intended to cause disruption to staff and passengers at Bristol Airport, as well as the emergency services, through his reckless actions," the officer said.
A spokesman for the airport said the sentence would send "a strong message" about making bomb threats.
He added: "Only the prompt and professional action of Bristol Airport staff and Avon and Somerset Police on the day prevented significant disruption to the travel plans of thousands of passengers."

She became Kenya's first high-profile athlete to fail a test, when she tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in September.
Jeptoo, 33, says she may have been prescribed some banned substances at a local hospital after a road accident.
She has become the 45th Kenyan athlete to have failed a doping test.
David Rudisha, the Olympic 800 metres champion, said he fears for Kenya's hard-won reputation after repeat allegations of doping.
"Athletics Kenya followed due process in her matter and it was appropriate that she serves a two-year ban," said the governing body's chief executive Isaac Kamande.
The ban comes only a few days after Athletics Kenya announced that eight more Kenyan athletes have been suspended for between one to four years for taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Over the last two years Kenya has been in the spotlight after a German television programme claimed that many Kenyan athletes are doping.
Jeptoo, one of most successful runners in Kenyan history, was due to be crowned world Marathon Major Champion for the year 2014 but the ceremony was called off soon after news of her failed test.
She has won the previous three Boston and two Chicago marathons and also previously won the Stockholm, Paris, Milan and Lisbon marathons.
Work has begun to clear up hundreds of tonnes of waste washed up on Norfolk beaches during last month's North Sea tidal surge.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
A man who made bomb threats to Bristol Airport in a series of text messages has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
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Kenya's Rita Jeptoo, winner of the Boston and Chicago marathons, has been banned for two years after failing a drugs test.