Mullingar 'Clean to European Norms' but drops out of IBAL top 10

Mullingar remains 'Clean to European Norms', but it has dropped out of the top 10 in the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey.

The first national litter survey of 2024 was released this morning, and it shows Mullingar in 15th position, and Athlone (26th) slipping to ‘moderately littered’ in the ranking of 40 towns and cities.

Portlaoise and Tullamore were again ‘clean’ and improved slightly, to 17th and 19th spots respectively.

The study reveals an overall improvement in litter levels, and a decrease in cans and plastic bottles on our streets on foot of the Deposit Return Scheme.

The An Taisce report for Mullingar stated:

All three of the approach routes into Mullingar scored well and this high standard was sustained for the majority of the remaining sites, bar two, which were heavily littered.

Other top-ranking sites included Mullingar Train Station (Exterior and Interior), Market Point and Oliver Plunkett Street – Market House building presents very well, with the area in front in good order.

The first of the heavily littered sites was at Canal Bank – there was litter deep within the water and on the surface – this site has been noted in previous IBAL surveys. The ‘Bring Centre’, Main Car Park was badly let down by the accumulation of items to the rear of the units.

The An Taisce report for Athlone stated:

A disappointment, as Athlone loses its clean status, with just four top ranking sites. If some of the moderately littered sites could be improved, it would make a big difference to the overall result. Count John McCormack Square / Place was attractively presented and maintained and excellent with regards to litter.

Hopefully once the works are complete along Dublin Gate Street / Church Street, that the overall presentation will be easier of maintain. The two most heavily littered sites were Athlone Bus Station and Ballymahon Road – the latter generally presented well but was let down by litter in a few isolated locations, noted in previous IBAL surveys as well.

The An Taisce report for Tullamore stated:

Another strong result for Tullamore, with no heavily littered sites. More importantly, previously poor sites have been addressed. Action has clearly been taken at both the Canal Side Parking area where the Bring Centre was removed due to dumping and at the Vacant Site on Offaly Street which was much cleaner than previously. O’Connor Square, Patrick Street and Columcille Street were all very well presented and maintained. There was a definite litter presence at the residential area of Cloncollig Housing Estate – levels were such that it could quickly deteriorate to a seriously littered state.

The An Taisce report for Portlaoise stated:

A very strong result for Portlaoise, with seven out of the ten sites surveyed getting the top litter grade. These included Main Street (exceptionally clean and tidy), Hinde Square and various approach routes. Improvements were noted at Pepper Lane though it was still somewhat littered. By far the most heavily littered site surveyed in Portlaoise was Harper’s Lane and environs – while a series of houses had been demolished, there was a large expanse of green space which harboured significant litter.

The study, conducted by An Taisce on behalf of IBAL, showed a healthy rise in towns reaching the upper tier of cleanliness – ‘Cleaner than European Norms’ – and a fall of 35% in the number of towns branded ‘littered’.

Naas regained the top position it lost last year, ahead of Monaghan and new entrant Blanchardstown.

Conor Horgan of IBAL said: “Our study paints a much better picture than a few years ago, and levels of cleanliness are definitely rising. Once again, no town was judged to be either a ‘litter blackspot’ or ‘heavily littered’ – that’s real progress.”

“City areas fared well, and there were notable improvements in Limerick City, Mahon in Cork, Tallaght and North Dublin Inner City. Limerick South (Galvone) recorded its best ever result. Dublin City Centre showed a fall in cleanliness on last year.”

Fewer cans and plastic bottles

There was a near-30% fall in the prevalence of can-related litter since the previous survey. Plastic bottles were also less common than in any past survey, but remain the third most prevalent form of litter on our streets.

“It’s early days and we’re still seeing too many plastic bottles on our streets, but we can expect further improvement as people become accustomed to the Deposit Return Scheme and the legacy non-returnable items are flushed out of the system. Ultimately, we should see can and plastic bottle litter disappear entirely.

“These initial results indicate that if there’s a monetary incentive to do the right thing, people will respond. The same logic applies to a coffee cup levy. Tackling specific litter types with tailored measures is the most effective way of ridding our streets of litter. We concede that it’s an inconvenience for people but that’s a price we must pay.”

Coffee cups, while down, were present in 1 of every 5 sites surveyed. Unlike in some countries, the Return Scheme does not include beer bottles, which were found in 10% of sites. “Is there a good reason why we cannot go further and make these bottles returnable also?” asks Horgan.

“It is disappointing that we see no progress in the development of degradable chewing gum. Across a swathe of industries, companies are adapting their products and packaging in the interests of the environment, but there seems to be no impetus for gum manufacturers to take such a step. As a result their products lie on our streets for decades and decades.“

Cigarette butt litter remains stubbornly high, present in 31% of the 500+ sites surveyed.