Drowning in garbage: Council heads warn waste sector facing ‘systematic collapse’
Some 160 local council leaders have warned Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that the country’s waste sector is “facing systematic collapse,” with local authorities underbudgeted, criminal organizations taking over, and poor, outdated infrastructure, including too few sites for landfill.
In a letter sent last week via the local and regional government centers and signed by each mayor, the council heads said waste treatment costs had hit unprecedented highs that the councils could not afford.
“The severe shortage of landfill sites requires the transportation of waste over unreasonable distances, leading to waste accumulation and illegal fires that cause severe air and soil pollution throughout the country,” the letter said.
