The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has called for the establishment of the proposed National Waste Management Board in the face of what it called the "lack of adequate waste management nfrastructure".
Mr Liam Kelleher, CIF Director General, said he wants the Board to be given statutory powers to make and implement Waste Management Plans where a Local Authority fails to ensure the provision of all necessary infrastructure.
This was because "almost all initiatives by both the Private and Public sectors to provide infrastructure have been frustrated by local community and other pressure groups opposed to waste recovery facilities, landfill sites and incinerators".
The federation considers "the absence of these facilities to be a constraint on commercial activity and a disincentive to inward investment in all regions".
It said only 43 per cent of construction and demolition waste was currently being recycled and that the industry had a target of 85 per cent recycling over 13 years.