The first round results of an annual litter survey show that Letterkenny is considered ‘clean to European norms’.
The business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) ranked Donegal’s largest town in 25th place out of 40 areas surveyed in 2017.
Letterkenny is showing improvement in the Litter League list, having risen from 29th place in 2016, and 36th place in 2015.
The grade ‘clean to European norms’ means that a town is considered to be as clean as its European counterparts.
Overall, IBAL found an improvement in cleanliness across the country. Tullamore in Offaly came top of this year’s list, which was deemed ‘Cleaner than European Norms’.
Conor Horgan of IBAL said this year’s results are the best in the group’s 16 years of surveys.
Horgan said: “Across the board we have seen improvements. The news is all the more positive given the importance of how we present our country over the summer months, when we attract over 40% of our visitors. Also satisfying is the pristine state of the roads around Dublin Airport, which help form a first impression for many of these visitors.”
IBAL have warned that dumping in towns and cities is an increased problem that is considered ‘the new litter’.
Horgan said: “Be it in cities or in towns, we enjoy a much cleaner environment than 15 years ago, but litter has not gone away.
“This summer we again had examples of extreme littering on beaches for examples, which display a worrying indifference to the natural environment. Marine litter is a source of great concern at present and an issue IBAL may concentrate more on in the future.
“Also, dumping is on the increase, and the more we ask people to pay for waste disposal the greater an issue it is likely to become. It may not be as widespread, but dumping is the new litter in many respects.”
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