Limerick’s poor performance in national litter league
Litter survey: illegal graffiti was a major concern during 2012 for Limerick city, which ranked 38th in the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) litter survey
The cleanliness of our towns and cities has improved since measuring started in 2002, when only two in the country were better than ‘moderately littered’.
- Now all but seven are better than ‘moderately littered’.
- Dublin, Cork and Limerick face a stiff challenge,.
- Much larger cities in Europe have proven that it is possible for cities to be clean and they striving to be even cleaner.
- The objective of “Clean Cities” is driven largely by economic benefits, as research shows that in Europe clean towns tend to spend less on cleaning than dirty ones.
The 1997 Litter Act included change designed to reduce the cost for Local Authorities.
- It is difficult to enforce the Act against individual littering, gum disposal and dog fouling
- However, property owners are less mobile.
- According to IBAL, absentee landlords and local property owners such as NAMA and Irish Rail are responsible for litter problems in some of the worst litter blackspots.