According to Michael O’Brien, Labour Party councillor, the recycling of waste materials is not being carried out as efficiently as perhaps it could be.

Speaking to the Kilkenny Advertiser, Mr O’Brian said that recent comments made by minister for the environment John Gormley regarding the potential low quality of commercial and household waste were not entirely true.

He said that more should be done to try and make use of the materials in Ireland rather than shipping them off abroad.

Mr O’Brian told the newspaper: “Irish waste management operators were selling this material to markets as far away as China, a clear indication that recycled waste quality was fine. But no State contingency plan was created.

“Even though it was painfully obvious in the past year that a problem was emerging, no effort was made to develop a home grown recoverable industry that might deliver an Irish Paper Mill, or an alternative use for recoverable glass.”

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