Navan moves up the ranks in anti-litter league

Navan has improved its standing in the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) League to achieve clean status, moving up eight places since the first survey of the year.

While Navan was deemed to be 'moderately littered' in the January results, the latest survey from IBAL found Navan to be 'Clean to European Norms' finishing in 18th place in the survey of 40 towns around the country.

The An Taisce report for Navan noted that the overall result for Navan was "hugely improved".

"A hugely improved overall result for Navan, with seven out of the ten sites getting the top litter grade and no litter blackspots. The three approach roads were top ranking and other examples included Boreen Keel Park / Playground and Emmet Terrace. There was a big improvement noted at the Bring Facility. St Patrick’s Park had clearly been cleaned up but is still subject to dumping / arson," the report stated.

Two-thirds of the 40 towns and cities surveyed were found to be clean, among them Naas, which retained its position atop the rankings, ahead of Letterkenny and Cavan. Drogheda was found to be seriously littered, finishing in 39th place.

Overall litter levels showed a decrease on last year, with a dramatic fall of 50 per cent in the number of sites within towns deemed to be ‘litter blackspots’.

The prevalence of PPE masks fell sharply compared to the previous survey, present in 17 per cent of sites examined, compared to 32 per cent in 2021. There was also a fall-off in alcohol-related litter, which contributed to an improvement in the state of public parks, 80 per cent of which were clean. Recycle centres were also cleaner. However, coffee cup litter remained high, evident in one quarter of all sites surveyed.

“The findings bear out the need for action on coffee cups,” said IBAL's Conor Horgan. “We must disincentivise the use of paper cups – even compostable or recyclable ones – as too many of them are ending up on the ground. In the light of our survey, the Government move towards a levy makes a lot of sense.”

The survey suggests that Ireland is seeing a return to normality post-Covid. “With cleaning schedules back to normal, less PPE litter and less alcohol consumption outdoors, litter levels have fallen. However, despite improvements, the centres of our main cities are still littered at a time when we are welcoming our peak tourist numbers. There is a price to be paid for that,” commented Mr Horgan.