Waterford City has been named Ireland’s cleanest city in 2023 by IBAL.Irish content pool
Litter in Irish towns continues to decline, according to a survey of litter carried out by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL).
For the first time since IBAL’s research began 20 years ago, no areas in Ireland were deemed to be ‘severely littered’ in 2023.
IBAL has revealed in its final waste survey for 2023 that the university town of Maynooth in County Kildare came first in a ranking of 40 towns and cities across Ireland, with Dublin’s North Inner City coming last.
Waterford City will be Ireland’s cleanest city in 2023, according to IBAL.
IBAL says its impending deposit refund scheme, which offers cash rewards for recycling drinks containers in stores, will further improve cleanliness levels, but calls for action to be taken for coffee cups.
Congratulations to Maynooth, winner of the 2023 IBAL Litter Prevention League! For the first time, no town or city was branded as ‘severely littered’. Find your town’s report at https://t.co/ZKtHtLFGyH and learn more here: https://t.co/BowFN8YZ0H pic.twitter.com/tUOgGpAVRz
— Irish garbage control business (@IrishLitter) January 7, 2024
IBAL said overall litter levels in Irish towns rose slightly, but more than 60% of towns surveyed could be expected to be cleaner by 2023.
An Taisce, which carries out the survey on behalf of IBAL, praised Maynooth for achieving “levels of cleanliness throughout 2023 not experienced in 20 years of the survey”.
The university’s campus in Maynooth was described as “clean” and the main street achieved “an excellent result for a busy shopping environment”.
Waterford has surpassed Galway as Ireland’s cleanest city. These are the only cities judged to be ‘clean’, with Cork city center improving to ‘moderately littered’, while Dublin, along with Limerick, has dropped to ‘littered’. Ta.
Dublin North Inner City occupied the bottom of the table, but its “littery” situation has improved compared to previous years.
IBAL’s Conor Hogan said: “This is a disappointing result given that both Dublin and Limerick city centers were in a ‘clean’ state until a few years ago.”
“Despite the many challenges facing our capital, clean streets are a critical starting point on the road to recovery.”
In Limerick, there was an “extraordinary level of littering” on Mallow Street, and empty plots on William Street were “sadly to behold, even in the heart of the city”.
“A huge amount of rubbish and household rubbish” was noted along Sherrard Street in Dublin, while Cathedral Street in Cork’s Northside was “not just randomly littered, but also the subject of dumping. ”.
Mr Hogan added: “But there is also good news for our city.
“For years, our worst-performing areas were considered either ‘high litter areas’ or ‘severely littered areas’. This standard seems to be changing, with “littering” becoming the lowest tier.
“Cleanliness begets cleanliness, and there is reason to hope that improvements will continue.”
“Action required on coffee cup”
A surprising finding of the IBAL study was the increase in coffee cup waste, which is now approaching peak levels for coronavirus. Of the more than 500 sites he investigated, he found coffee cups in more than 30% of them.
“We are concerned that the implementation of the coffee cup levy could be delayed,” Conor Hogan said.
“We believe this measure is necessary to eradicate products that deviate from the circular economy. Regardless of how recyclable or compostable a takeaway cup is, these statistics , shows that too many takeaway cups are being thrown away on the streets.”
IBAL said Killarney, Co. Kerry, benefited from banning disposable cups last year, with the move meeting little to no resistance from the community.
IBAL has welcomed the introduction of a deposit refund scheme next month as a potential game-changer in the fight against waste, similar to the plastic bag tax. Under this system, consumers pay a deposit of 15 cents for cans and up to 25 cents for plastic bottles, which is refunded upon return.
“This latest research shows that these items are present in just under half of the hundreds of sites we investigated.
“This plan will remove much of this trash and result in a significantly cleaner environment by 2024.While there may be some inconvenience for consumers, this award is a very real possibility. And it’s something you get right away.”
The prevalence of disposable e-cigarettes, previously highlighted as a new source of waste, has also increased significantly. These were found in over 10% of all sites targeted.