ENNIS HAS KEPT A TOP TEN spot in the latest national litter survey.
No heavily littered sites were detected in Ennis as part of the latest survey by Irish Business Against Litter. While Ennis retained its ‘cleaner than European norms’ status, it fell from third to ninth position in the ranking of forty towns and cities, no other Clare areas were investigated.
An Taisce’s report for Ennis said it was “another very strong performance” for the county town. Seven of the sites surveyed received the top litter grade. “All approach routes were top ranking, creating a positive first impression of the town. This high standard was present at other sites, including Westpoint Retail Park, O’Connell Street and Ennis Recycle Facility, the latter was particularly good for a recycle facility, as they were often very poorly maintained. Clearly there is great pride at this ‘managed’ facility,” the report outlined.
A sharp fall in the number of litter blackspots across the country has brought an improvement in cities in particular, PPE litter is on the decrease, but the prevalence of coffee cups on our streets warrants action such as a levy, IBAL noted. 2022 is the twentieth year of the IBAL litter surveys. Two-thirds of the 40 towns and cities surveyed were found to be clean, among them Naas, which retained its position atop the rankings, ahead of Letterkenny and Cavan. Overall litter levels showed a decrease on last year, with a dramatic fall of 50% in the number of sites within towns deemed to be ‘litter blackspots’.
“We’ve been calling on local authorities to prioritise the very bad sites in a town or area and it seems this call has been heeded,” IBAL spokesperson Conor Horgan commented. “We see the benefits especially in urban areas, where very heavy littering and dumping was at its worst. It’s early days, but there are signs that the disadvantaged areas we have focussed on are finally coming good, albeit from a low base.”
Prevalence of PPE masks fell sharply compared to the previous survey, present in 17% of sites examined, compared to 32% in 2021. There was also a fall-off in alcohol-related litter, which contributed to an improvement in the state of public parks, 80% of which were clean. Recycle centres were also cleaner. However, coffee cup litter remained high, evident in one quarter of all sites surveyed. “The findings bear out the need for action on coffee cups,” Horgan contended. “We must disincentivise the use of paper cups – even compostable or recyclable ones – as too many of them are ending up on the ground. In the light of our survey, the Government move towards a levy makes a lot of sense.”
“With cleaning schedules back to normal, less PPE litter and less alcohol consumption outdoors, litter levels have fallen. However, despite improvements, the centres of our main cities are still littered at a time when we are welcoming our peak tourist numbers. There is a price to be paid for that,” Horgan concluded.
