Crisis for council waste collection

THE real possibility of more local authorities pulling out of waste collection has serious implications and could lead to an increase in indiscriminate dumping which continues to blight the country.

At the same time, attitudes have progressed, as is evidenced by the huge increase in recycling – a shift from the notion that waste is something that has be buried to something that can be used productively and create jobs.

Nearly every household is now engaged in some form of recycling and the Government has set a 70% recycling target, to be reached by 2016. The advent of recycling in Ireland has brought a host of private operators into the waste management field, creating thousands of jobs. The days when the council or corporation dump lorry automatically came around and picked up a bin containing all household rubbish are long gone. At least one council no longer provides the service and others, including Cork County Council, are thinking of withdrawing from waste collection.