Ireland faces a crisis because of inadequate waste management strategies which pose a serious threat to international inward investment, a new report has warned.
The report, by economic consultants Peter Bacon and Associates and commissioned by Celtic Waste Ltd, a waste management company, is highly critical of present strategies to deal with the problems of disposal.
It warns that a serious impact on Irish economic growth is likely in the absence of Government initiatives.
The report calls for action to avert what it describes as the looming waste management crisis.
Mr Bacon said: "There is a massive problem in terms of deficit in the commercial and industrial sectors. If you take the regional waste strategies as they are, there will still be a deficit of one million tonnes a year for the next 10 years."
He warned that this would lead to further illegal disposal, and most of industry would be affected.
The report recommended that, in relation to illegal dumping, the objective was to devise a working system which encouraged and rewarded operators to work within the legal framework. There should be effective punishment for failure to comply.
It called on the Minister for the Environment to require local authorities to ensure that adequate landfill capacity is available to deal, in the short term, with the deficit in relation to commercial and industrial waste.
It also called on the Minister to issue policy guidelines to local authorities in relation to how development plans should deal with waste.
Among the other recommendations in the report are the establishment of a waste management agency, a fully-audited waste tracking system, a review of waste management strategies and encouragement of recycling habits.