Dundalk makes clean sweep in litter survey

Dundalk has plenty to celebrate in the latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey, soaring ten places to rank 20th out of 40 towns and cities and earning the coveted ‘Clean to European Norms’ status—a dramatic turnaround from last year’s results.

With just one heavily littered site, the town moved up by ten places when compared with the last survey result in June 2024 representing a significant improvement compared to this time last year when Dundalk was ranked 39th and deemed to be littered.

There were five top ranking sites, and the remainder were moderately littered. Examples of top ranking sites included the approach routes, Michael McNeela Riverside Walkway and Clanbrassil Street – the latter was described as a freshly presented town centre environment with all elements in good order.

Established in 1996 by businessman Dr Tom Cavanagh, IBAL is an alliance of companies sharing a belief that “continued economic prosperity – notably in the areas of tourism, food and direct foreign investment – is contingent on a clean, litter-free environment”. In addition, IBAL believes all citizens have the right to a clean living environment.

Since 2002, Irish Business Against Litter has commissioned An Taisce to carry out litter surveys of our main towns and cities according to international standards. The towns and cities are then ranked in a league table format.

The An Taisce report for Dundalk gave verdicts on ten different locations in the town, with the top five receiving a Grade A, three a Grade B+, one Grade B and one Grade C.

The verdicts on each of the ten, ranking from A to D with An Taisce’s comments on each, were as follows:

Castletown River & Bank: Grade C
While there appeared to be a slight improvement in the litter levels, they were still high levels of a wide variety of food related and other items, e.g. newspapers / miscellaneous items. There was a mix of both ‘recent’ and ‘long-lie’ items. Unless addressed, this is likely to deteriorate and attract further items.

Michael McNeela Riverside Walkway: Grade A.
A lovely riverside environment with freshly cut grasslands, clean pavements, PE equipment and tree planting. There was a complete absence of litter throughout the area surveyed.

Clothes Bank, Newry Road: Grade B.
Not much effort is required for this small facility to get the top litter grade.
Discarded clothing and plastic bags took away from an otherwise well presented facility.
There was no dumping to the rear of the facility, as frequently happens.

M1 & N52 from Dublin direction: Grade A.
This route creates a very positive first impression of Dundalk. It was an exceptionally freshly presented route with road surface / markings / signage in very good order. There were no visible litter issues.

Castletown Road: Grade A.
Another approach route into Dundalk, which was very much deserving of the top litter grade. The residential stretch of the road was certainly in very good order.

Tesco: Grade B+.
Generally, this was a very well presented and maintained site with nicely landscaped area, with seating beside the water feature. Much of the area was very good with regards to litter, but the litter grade was brought down by some in the loading bay and the water feature.

Clanbrassil Street: Grade A.
The overall impression created along this street was a very fresh and clean one with attractive paving / large planter boxes / outdoor seating etc used to good effect. The outdoor dining areas were clear of litter. Small vape stickers were on litter bins.

The Longwalk Shopping Centre: Grade B+.
This is another site which just missed the top litter grade. A more thorough approach to cleaning around the base of the hedges / grass verges could easily address this. Signage / paving / litter bins / etc were in good order.

Recycle Facility at Tesco: Grade B+.
The glass / can units were in good condition and the overall impression to the front was a positive one. It was the items to the rear of the units which brought down the overall litter grade.

Carrickmacross Approach Road: Grade A.
There were no litter issues along this route which passes through some attractive red brick buildings / terraced houses.

Nationally, overall litter levels were on a par with 12 months ago. In all, 60% of the towns and cities surveyed were deemed ‘clean’.

2024 saw a further fall in the number of sites within cities and towns that were deemed ‘litter blackspots’, which suggests that local authorities were generally more effective in tackling urban dumping and in addressing sites that IBAL had previously highlighted.

The survey also revealed a near-50% fall in the prevalence of plastic bottles and cans in the 500+ sites monitored since the Deposit Return Scheme was introduced last year.

“We are definitely seeing cans and bottles disappear from our streets, which is very welcome – not only are they unsightly, but the bottles contribute to the very real problem of plastic pollution.

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“However, it is clear from our survey that people continue to discard a wide range of litter types with flagrant disregard for their surroundings,” says IBAL’s Conor Horgan.

“Sweet wrappers and fast-food wrappers were the most common litter types, ahead of plastic bags and coffee cups, which were present in over 20% of sites.

“The DRS was one of a number of structural measures broached by the last government as part of its environmental agenda, with knock-on benefits in terms of litter.

“A ban on disposable vapes and a coffee cup levy were others.

“The need for such measures is evident in the stubbornly low penetration levels of refillable coffee cups and the proliferation of highly damaging vape litter, which cannot be recycled.

“If we are to see sustainable improvement nationwide, it is important that the incoming regime maintain the momentum on anti-litter legislation.”