The bring bank at King Street is an area that is often badly littered, this photo ws taken on 29/12/2024.
Incoming government “needs to maintain momentum on anti-litter measures”
Drogheda has slipped back two places to 26th out of 40 towns surveyed in the Irish Business Against Litter League and has been classified as “Moderately littered.” Dundalk on the other hand has reclaimed its ‘clean’ status and improved its ranking to 20th place.
A fall in plastic bottles and cans on our streets, brought about by the Deposit Return Scheme was not enough to reduce overall litter levels in Ireland last year.
The An Taisce report for Drogheda stated:
With seven top ranking sites, a town would normally expect to score quite highly in the league. However, the presence of one litter blackspot and two significantly littered sites bring down the overall ranking. Top-ranking sites included residential area of Oaklawns, Car Park at Trinity Street, Westgate Ward and West Street – the latter was a freshly presented town centre environment. By far the most heavily littered site surveyed in Drogheda was an area to the rear of AIB Shop Street, at Promenade – it wasn’t just littered but subjected to abuse and neglect.
The An Taisce report for Dundalk stated:
With just one heavily littered site, Dundalk’s overall ranking is much improved compared to just a year previous. There were five top ranking sites, and the remainder were moderately littered. Examples of top ranking sites included the approach routes, Michael McNeela Riverside Walkway and Clanbrassil Street – the latter was a freshly presented town centre environment with all elements in good order.
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Overall litter levels were on a par with 12 months ago. In all, 60% of the towns and cities surveyed were deemed ‘clean’.
On a positive note, 2024 saw a further fall in the number of sites within cities and towns that were deemed ‘litter blackspots’, which suggests that local authorities were generally more effective in tackling urban dumping and in addressing sites that IBAL had previously highlighted.
The survey also revealed a near-50% fall in the prevalence of plastic bottles and cans in the 500+ sites monitored since the Deposit Return Scheme was introduced last year.
“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. However, it is clear from our survey that people continue to discard a wide range of litter types with flagrant disregard for their surroundings,” says Conor Horgan.
“Sweet wrappers and fast-food wrappers were the most common litter types, ahead of plastic bags and coffee cups, which were present in over 20% of sites.
“The DRS was one of a number of structural measures broached by the last government as part of its environmental agenda, with knock-on benefits in terms of litter. A ban on disposable vapes and a coffee cup levy were others.
“The need for such measures is evident in the stubbornly low penetration levels of refillable coffee cups and the proliferation of highly damaging vape litter, which cannot be recycled. If we are to see sustainable improvement nationwide, it is important that the incoming regime maintain the momentum on anti-litter legislation.”
Killarney, which outlawed disposable coffee cups in 2023, was one of the most improved towns last year, rising from 14th to 4th in the rankings. “Given the evident success of this initiative in Killarney, it is perplexing why other towns have not yet followed suit,” commented Conor Horgan.