Garbage piles in Paris getting smaller: Officials

ANKARA

Paris said Friday that the volume of garbage piles in its municipality is decreasing.

Streets in the capital had 4,300 tons of garbage Thursday and that was down to 3,200 on Friday, it said on its website.

Paris is gearing up for a marathon Sunday and streets on the course are being cleaned, it said.

First Deputy of Paris municipality Emmanuel Gregoire told the Le Parisien newspaper on Thursday that a significant improvement would be seen as of next week.

"We are not back to the normal yet, due to the sporadic blockings in the incineration plants and in garbage truck garages," he said, explaining that the collection and disposal processes are taking too long.

Garbage collection in Paris

Paris has known serious disruptions in garbage collection since earlier in the month due to a walkout by garbage workers to protest the government's pension reform.

Garbage collectors then decided to extend the strike, while tons of garbage piled up on streets.