This Tipperary town has received top marks in national litter survey

The first national litter survey of 2024 by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) shows Nenagh is ‘cleaner than European norms’ in 7th spot in the ranking of 40 towns and cities. The town was in 18th position when last surveyed in 2018.
The study reveals an overall improvement in litter levels, and a decrease in cans and plastic bottles on our streets on foot of the new Deposit Return Scheme.

The An Taisce report for Nenagh stated: An excellent result for Nenagh with no heavily littered sites and all bar two getting the top litter grade. The approach roads presented well, creating a positive first impression of the town. A lovely feature of Nenagh Train Station was ‘Water Column’ indicating the significance of same during the era of the steam locomotive.
Despite a number of closed down / vacant premises along Pearse Street, it still managed to get the top litter grade. Nenagh Castle Grounds / Castle Garden is an oasis of calm with lovely seating and an abundance of birdlife enjoying the planting.

The study, conducted by An Taisce on behalf of IBAL, showed a healthy rise in towns reaching the upper tier of cleanliness – ‘Cleaner than European Norms’ - and a fall of 35% in the number of towns branded ‘littered’. Naas regained the top position it lost last year, ahead of Monaghan and new entrant Blanchardstown. Ballybane in Galway slipped to bottom of the rankings.
“Our study paints a much better picture than a few years ago, with levels of cleanliness definitely rising,” says IBAL’s Conor Horgan. “Once again, no town was judged to be either a ‘litter blackspot’ or ‘heavily littered’ – that’s real progress.”

City areas fared well, with notable improvements in Limerick City, Mahon in Cork, Tallaght and North Dublin Inner City. Limerick South (Galvone) recorded its best ever result. Dublin City Centre, however, showed a fall in cleanliness on last year.
There was a near-30% fall in the prevalence of can-related litter since the previous survey. While plastic bottles were also less common than in any past survey, they remain the third most prevalent form of litter on our streets.

It’s early days and we’re still seeing too many plastic bottles on our streets, but we can expect further improvement as people become accustomed to the Deposit Return Scheme and the legacy non-returnable items are flushed out of the system.

Coffee cups, while down, were present in 1 of every 5 sites surveyed. Unlike in some countries, the Return Scheme does not include beer bottles, which were found in 10% of sites.

“Is there a good reason why we cannot go further and make these bottles returnable also?” asks Horgan.

“It is disappointing that we see no progress in the development of degradable chewing gum. Across a swathe of industries, companies are adapting their products and packaging in the interests of the environment, but there seems to be no impetus for gum manufacturers to take such a step. As a result their products lie on our streets for decades and decades.”