Waterford continues to be Ireland's cleanest city

Waterford is again Ireland's cleanest city according to the final survey of 2021 by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL). It has retained its 11th position in the ranking of 40 towns and cities.

Ballybeg has improved 7 places to 30th, but is still deemed ‘littered’.

The survey also shows that PPE litter nationally is at its highest levels since the Pandemic started, while IBAL says Councils are failing to address rising number of "heavily littered sites."

In terms of towns, Naas County Kildare has been deemed tidiest town; it finished ahead of Portlaoise County Laois and Ennis County Clare to record its first win in the annual rankings. There was a slight fall in the number of clean towns nationwide, to 22.

Why IBAL deemed Waterford the cleanest city

The An Taisce report for Waterford City stated:

A consistently high ranking city, Waterford City has topped the list of the cities surveyed by a long shot. Even poorer performing sites from recent surveys have been addressed, with just one heavily littered site out of a total of 24 surveyed.

The report went on to point out the overall impressive presentation of some landmarks in Waterford City,  such as Plunkett Train Station,  the People’s Park,  the Medieval Triangle / Cultural Quarter, Bus Eireann Station (The Quays), the grounds of Waterford Courthouse, The Mall, and the residential area of South Parade, to name a few. An Taisce also commended the clean up of the the car park opposite the People’s Park which had been previously deemed a heavily litter spot in previous IBAL surveys.

The An Taisce report for Ballybeg stated that there was "a notable improvement for Ballybeg over the previous survey. A large open area beside Brill @ The Campus had formerly been heavily littered and dumped upon – a huge clean up and clear out has taken place and this time around it was very much worthy of the top litter grade. There was no improvement at all at the area to the rear of Ryan’s – it has been subject to long-term abuse and neglect. The same applies to the open area beside St. Saviour’s GAA where there was more dumping of large household items. The residential area of Glencarra, Ballybeg Park / Playground and Musgrave Market Place were all very much deserving of the top litter grade."

PPE litter on the increase

The report showed PPE litter at record levels, with an increase in the presence of both masks and gloves. “It would appear that this litter is accumulating as the pandemic continues, as there remains an understandable reticence to pick up other people’s PPE,” says IBAL’s Conor Horgan. “The disposable blue face mask has become a ubiquitous part of the landscape up and down the country. People have not moved to reusable masks and people are not taking care of their masks.”

International research* has found PPE litter accounting for as much as 5% of all litter, and likely to have “a devastating, lasting effect on the environment”. Mask use is forecast to remain high into 2022.

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