KILDARE: Celebrations as Maynooth replaces Naas at top of litter-free rankings (2024)

The final litter survey of 2023 by business group Irish Business Against Litter shows Maynooth cleanest of 40 towns and cities ranked nationwide, with previous winner Naas also deemed ‘Cleaner than European norms” in 11thspot.

For the first time since surveys began 20 years ago, no area was deemed ‘seriously littered’. IBAL says the impending Deposit Return Scheme will improve cleanliness levels further but is calling for action on coffee cups.

The An Taisce report for Maynooth stated:

Over the course of 2023 Maynooth attained a level of cleanliness which we have not encountered in over 20 years of surveying.All sites got the top litter grade this time around – well done Maynooth. With so many top-ranking sites, there are some which deserve a special mention e.g., Maynooth University (exceptionally well presented and maintained with an absence of litter throughout), St. Patrick’s College, Carton Park / Avenue and the Main Street.

The An Taisce report for Naas stated:

Four moderately littered sites helped push Naas off the top of the IBAL table. Millennium Park (business park) was an exceptionally freshly presented and maintained environment with an abundance of greenery throughout. The residential area of Morell Road / Lawns was excellent in terms of overall presentation and litter. The Recycle / Bring Facility at Tesco (Monread Road) was a template for such a site – clearly it is a very well respected and managed one. Notable improvement at Vacant site on Rathasker Road – the previous litter / dumping issues have been addressed, this time it just missed the top litter grade.

While litter levels rose slightly nationwide, over 60% of towns surveyed were deemed clean in 2023, with Maynooth edging out Mallow and much improved Sligo to take the title of cleanest town.

Waterford was again our cleanest city, ahead of Galway. These were the only cities to be judged ‘clean’, with Cork City Centre improving to ‘moderately littered’ but Dublin falling to ‘littered’, alongside Limerick.

“There is some good news in our cities, however,” says Conor Horgan. “For years our worst performing areas were deemed either ‘litter blackspots’ or ‘seriously littered’. This baseline would seem to be changing, with ‘littered’ becoming the bottom tier. Cleanliness begets cleanliness, and there is reason to hope the improvement will continue in future years.”

‘We need action on coffee cups”

A surprise finding of the IBAL study was the rise in coffee cup litter, which is now close to peak-Covid levels. Coffee cups were found at over 30% of the 500+ sites surveyed. “We are concerned at potential delays in introducing a coffee cup levy,” says Conor Horgan. “We believe this action is needed to stamp out a product which is out of step with the circular economy. Irrespective of how recyclable or compostable take-away cups are, these statistics show too many of them are ending up on our streets.” IBAL says Killarney has benefited from having banned single-use cups last year, a move embraced by the community.

IBAL welcomes the introduction next month of the Deposit Return Scheme as a potential game-changer in the fight against litter, much as the plastic bag levy was. The scheme will see consumers pay a deposit of 15 cent on cans and up to 25 cent on plastic bottles, refundable on their return. “This latest survey shows these items to be present in just under half of the hundreds of sites we surveyed. This scheme will remove a large portion of this litter and bring about a significantly cleaner environment in 2024. While there may be some inconvenience for consumers, the prize is a very real, and a very immediate one.”

There was another significant rise in the prevalence of disposable vapes, highlighted previously as an emerging source of litter. These were found in more than 10% of all sites covered.

The Cathaoirleach of Clane/Maynooth Municipal District, Tim Durkin, will be presented at noon today in Court House Square, Main St, Maynooth with the Dr Tom Cavanagh Memorial Trophy.2023 marked the 21stanniversary of the IBAL Anti-Litter League.