Cigarette butts and chewing gum remain the top constituent elements of litter pollution in Ireland, according to the latest results from the National Litter Pollution Monitoring System (NLPMS), which tracked the extent of litter pollution across the country in 2024.
These two elements remain unchanged year-on-year, the data showed, with passing pedestrians remaining the primary source of litter, responsible for 39.4% of waste, though this represents a reduction of nearly three percentage points from 2023.
According to the 5,579 surveys that were carried out across Ireland as part of the NLPMS study, 19.2% of surveyed areas were unpolluted, a decline from 21.5% in 2023.
Slightly polluted areas accounted for the highest share, of 59.8%, up from 56.8% in 2023. Elsewhere, moderately polluted areas rose to 17.4%, up from 15.5% the previous year, and significantly polluted areas dropped to 3% from 5.8%.
Ireland boasts very few areas that are considered ‘grossly polluted’, at 0.6%, up slightly from 0.5% the previous year.
‘Continued progress’
Announcing the findings, Minister of State with responsibility for the Circular Economy, Alan Dillon, said “I welcome the continued progress in reducing significantly polluted areas across the country. However, we must remain vigilant. Tackling litter pollution requires a collective effort from regulatory bodies, communities and individuals.
“As Minister, I remain committed to supporting local authorities through targeted funding to tackle the scourge of litter right across the country. I welcome the recently published results of the IBAL (Irish Business Against Litter) surveys that show more towns are clean compared with last year and the number of areas deemed littered or worse is at its lowest in 5 years.”
Regulatory steps
To tackle the prevalence of cigarette butts, regulations were introduced in 2023 that require tobacco producers whose products contain plastic filters to contribute financially to clean-up costs through an extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme, known as the Tobacco Product Plastic Filter Group (TPPFG).
The TPPFG’s contribution towards litter clean-up costs for 2023 amounted to €248,264.
Other measures introduced to reduce litter include the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, which allows for the use of technologies such as CCTV for enforcement, and the national Deposit Return Scheme, or DRS, which was launched in February 2024 and targets single-use drinks containers. Read more here.
