The Environmental Protection Agency has called on waste companies to improve their operational standards to prevent foul odours affecting communities living near their facilities.
The call comes in The EPA Licensed Sites - 2013 Report on Waste Enforcement, which also shows half of all legal actions taken by the EPA related to waste.
This report shows 92% of the 547 complaints made to EPA in 2013 related to odour from waste facilities.
Because of this, the agency says waste companies need to improve how they run their landfill, waste transfer, recycling, incineration, and compositing operations.
Half of the EPA's legal actions related to waste in 2013, with six successful prosecutions in the courts.
The Irish Waste Management Association, which represents waste companies, has criticised the EPA for failing to highlight improvements in the industry in recent years.
The EPA is also calling for the reorganisation of local authority waste enforcement structures.
