Litter levels in Ireland have remained unchanged year-on-year, despite the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to tackle waste beverage containers, Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) has said.
According to IBAL, while the DRS has led to a significant reduction – of close to 50% – in the prevalence of plastic bottles and cans across over 500 monitored sites, other forms of litter persist, including confectionery and fast-food packaging, coffee cups and plastic bags.
Best and worst
IBAL’s study of 50 towns and cities across Ireland deemed Naas, County Kildare, as Ireland’s cleanest town, however Dublin’s north inner city ranked lowest, due to persistent littering.
Inspectors in Dublin‘s north inner city noted “vast quantities of loose food and alcohol related litter”, “large household items e.g. mattresses / furniture discarded along the pavement”, and “at least a dozen black sacks of rubbish – the contents of which were being scavenged by seagulls.”
Some 60% of the towns and cities were deemed ‘clean’, according to the study, with Galway replacing Waterford as Ireland’s cleanest city.
The past year also saw a fall in the number of locations around Ireland that were deemed litter ‘blackspots’, which suggests that local authorities have been more effective in tackling urban dumping than IBAL had previously reported.
‘Flagrant disregard’
“We are definitely seeing cans and bottles disappear from our streets, which is very welcome – not only are they unsightly, but the bottles contribute to the very real problem of plastic pollution,” commented IBAL’s Conor Horgan. “However, it is clear from our survey that people continue to discard a wide range of litter types with flagrant disregard for their surroundings.”
In terms of tackling the waste issue in the capital, Dublin, Horgan added that IBAL’s findings “strengthen the case for the ban on bag bins in Dublin City. We’ve been saying for years that the use of bags for waste collection has been an impediment to progress in the capital on a number of fronts. The ban can bring about a step change, but its impact will hinge on proper enforcement.” Read more here.
