CIGARETTE BOXES and butts accounted for almost half of all litter thrown on Irish streets last year, according to the National Litter Reportpublished today.
The report, published by Minister for the Environment John Gormley, found pedestrians were the worst culprits for littering but litter generated by motorists throwing items from their cars was on the increase.
Mr Gormley said he was particularly concerned by the levels of litter in rural areas and key tourist locations, and said he was establishing an “action group” to deal with the problem with membership from his department, the Department of Transport, National Roads Authority, local authorities, the Office of Environmental Enforcement and Fáilte Ireland.
“I have been concerned for some time at the apparent growth in both roadside and rural litter. I am anxious that we deal with this growing problem before it gets out of hand. I am tasking the group to report back to me with recommendations to tackle this key environmental issue.”
The report, which monitors litter levels nationally but does not single out particular dirty towns or streets, found that most litter was caused by cigarettes, with butts accounting for 41 per cent of all litter items and cigarette-related items accounting for a further 5.4 per cent.
Discarded food was the second largest category of litter pollution recorded at 29.2 per cent. Most food litter (27.3 per cent) was composed of discarded chewing gum. Packaging litter at 12 per cent was the third largest component of national litter pollution recorded, while sweet-related items accounted for 6.9 per cent of litter.
Pedestrians were responsible for creating 38.3 per cent of litter, motorists were behind 18.3 per cent of littering, retail outlets were responsible for 11 per cent of littering, while 7.7 per cent of litter was found at “gathering points” including outside schools and pubs, and at bus stops.
The report also found that 6.8 per cent of areas surveyed were litter free, 63.5 per cent were slightly littered, 25.7 per cent were moderately littered, 3.7 per cent were significantly littered, and .3 per cent were grossly littered.
The fact that more than 70 per cent of areas were either just slightly littered or litter free represented an on-going improvement in cleanliness, Mr Gormley said.
“This compares to just 48 per cent of areas surveyed in 2002, and represents the highest level of cleanliness achieved since monitoring began.”
