Limerick City just misses out on clean status in IBAL litter survey

THE final litter survey of 2020 by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) shows Limerick City just failing to attain clean status, in 18th place in the ranking of 37 towns and cities. Galvone, meanwhile, has improved but is ‘littered’ in 35th place.

Kilkenny retained top spot, ahead of Killarney and Ennis. According to the report, litter levels continue to rise nationwide, with fewer than half of the towns surveyed deemed clean.

The An Taisce report for Limerick City stated: “Limerick City has come a long way in the last number of years and has narrowly failed to regain clean status despite some improvement.

“The riverside environments in Limerick City deserve special mention with regard to overall presentation, creating such a positive impression within the city e.g., Clancy Strand, Charlotte Quay, George’s Quay and Bishop’s Quay.

“Very well presented town centre sites included Thomas Street (exceptionally well presented and maintained streetscape), William Street, Limerick Museum and Shannonbridge Roundabout and environs.

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“By far the most heavily littered site in Limerick was the Recycle Facility on Dock Road – it wasn’t just casually littered but subject to dumping.“

The An Taisce report for Limerick South (Galvone) stated: “With over half of the sites surveyed in Galvone getting the top litter grade, Galvone has scored better this time than previous years – an improvement which is in contrast to most areas in the country.

“The approach routes were good with regard to litter and Roxboro Shopping Centre and the residential area of Ballincurra Gardens were very much deserving of the top litter grade.

“The poorer ranking sites have been noted in previous surveys – Miscellaneous site at end of Galvone Business Park, Recycle Facility at Roxboro Shopping Centre and Miscellaneous Site adjacent to Bawnmore Road from Kilmallock Road – these were not just littered but subject to dumping on quite a considerable scale.”

In all, litter levels rose in 24 of the 37 towns and cities inspected by An Taisce at the end of 2020, resulting in only 17 being judged to be clean – a fall of over 25% on last summer and in sharp contrast to just 3 years ago, when 80% were clean.

According to IBAL, the survey results are consistent with a trend in recent years. “The decline in cleanliness is less a case of the poorer areas getting worse, but of previously clean towns slipping to littered,” says IBAL spokesperson Conor Horgan.

“Covid is clearly a factor here, but we should never accept litter as inevitable. It comes down to people disposing of their waste without regard for their surroundings or their fellow citizens and it is entirely unnecessary.”

One explanation for the rise in litter lies in the restrictions surrounding cleaning services during the pandemic.  “While council workers have not been on the streets as much as normal, the general public has been spending more time than ever out of doors,” says Mr Horgan.

“There was a sharp rise in the amounts of litter on approach roads to towns, reflecting the fact that the benign winter has seen masses of people out walking. “Ironically, too many of them are showing a shameful disregard for the environment they are enjoying.”

PPE litter

Coffee cups were among the most prevalent litter types found, while there was another rise in glass bottles and cans, suggesting that outdoor drinking has not waned over the winter months.

The survey also showed that the second half of 2020 brought a further increase in PPE-related litter, primarily masks.  “8 months into the pandemic, we would have hoped people would have moved to reusable masks with a resulting fall in mask-related litter.

In fact, we are seeing more and more of them ending up our streets,” says Mr Horgan.

Heavily littered sites ‘getting worse’

The report highlighted a continued rise in the number of blackspots in towns and cities. IBAL was once again critical of the failure of local authorities to address sites that had been identified in previous surveys as heavily littered.

36 such sites were revisited in this latest survey, yet only 11% were found to have been cleaned up and more than a quarter had actually worsened.

Reluctance to pick up litter

According to IBAL, the reluctance among civic-minded people to pick up litter during the pandemic may carry long term consequences. “While people have certainly become more attuned to their natural surroundings and more conscious of how litter can spoil those surroundings, this is offset by an understandable unwillingness to pick up waste for fear of contamination.

“As the pandemic endures, and with it the sensitivity around touching items, people may simply get out of the habit of picking up other people’s litter.  We risk losing a civic behaviour which is vital in keeping our country clean.” concludes Mr Horgan.

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