SIPTU calls for reform of 'wild west' waste collection system 

SIPTU is calling for waste collection to be solely dealt with by the local authority. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

SIPTU wants a meeting with Minister Eamon Ryan to deal with what it calls failures in waste collection.

The union has descibed Ireland as "the wild west" with multiple providers in each council area.

It's calling for waste collection to be solely dealt with by the local authority.

A new government policy on managing rubbish has been launched, which includes halving food waste over the next 10 years and recycling targets for collectors.

SIPTU's Adrian Kane says it's clear the current system doesn't work: "We're in a situation where there are multiple providers in a single authority and we have a situation every morning where there's another truck blocking the streets, thereby increasing carbon emissions. in every other European city, you have communal bins in which people come out and divide their rubbish and you can't have that with multiple providers."