LIMERICK City is now the fourth most littered urban area in Ireland, according to the final survey of 2022 conducted by An Taisce on behalf of the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) group.
Too many heavily littered sites saw the city formally designated as ‘littered’ and demoted to 37th position in the ranking of 40 towns and cities.
By contrast the Galvone area, which was previously designated as a ‘litter blackspot’, continued its recent improvement and is now rated as “moderately littered”.
The report for Limerick City Centre stated that some of the heavily littered sites such as Mount Kenneth Place, the Bring Facility at Dock Road and basements along Mallow Street and Cecil Street were highlighted in previous IBAL surveys.
“By far the most heavily littered site was the laneway between High Road and Thomondgate, which was subject to dumping.
“A notable improvement was evident at Colbert Train Station – this time around it was very much deserving of the top litter grade and the opportunity to ‘separate’ waste is a great addition.
“George’s Quay and Harvey’s Quay, although not good with regard to litter, were very well presented and maintained. There was very good dog fouling signage at Ennis Road and the residential area of Bishop Street. King John’s Castle and Clare Street Car Park were very much deserving of the top litter grade.
The report stated that it was heartening to see continued improvement in the Galvone area where the Galvone Industrial Estate and the Bring Facility at Roxboro Shopping Centre have been persistently poorly performing over a long number of years .
“The condition of the Bring facility is in sharp contrast to the actual shopping centre in which it is located, which was excellent. Crossagalla Industrial Estate and Kennedy Park were also very much deserving of the top litter grade.
Cleanliness levels nationwide improved by six per cent in 2022, with Naas pipping Kilkenny and Maynooth in the rankings for the top spot in the league.
IBAL spokesman Conor Horgan said that plastic bottle and cans continue to be a major source of litter, second only to sweet wrappers and this strengthens the case for a deposit return scheme, which is due to be introduced this year.
“The same applies to the proposed coffee cup levy and while there was a fall in the prevalence of coffee cup litter, they were still found in 25 per cent of sites surveyed.
“We welcome the announcement that cigarette manufacturers will now be contributing to the cost of clean-up, but we need to see preventative measures such as widespread cigarette butt disposal facilities alongside innovative packaging which can store butts,” Mr Horgan added.
