LITTER is on the rise, according to the latest findings of annual nationwide survey by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL).
Findings released this week show Bundoran Beach was deemed as ‘littered’, while Killybegs Harbour was found to be ‘moderately littered’.
No beaches or harbours in Donegal fell under the categories of heavily littered or clean to European norms.
Three quarters of Ireland’s beaches and waterways are littered, with discarded coffee cups, sweet wrappers, plastic bottles and cigarette butts the most common sources of pollution.
Just 33 per cent of beaches surveyed were deemed to be clean, while three quarters of beaches were polluted with varying degrees of litter, according to the survey findings.
IBAL Chief Executive, Conor Horgan said despite an improvement in the level of litter that was observed last year following a noticeable rise during the Covid-19 pandemic the previous year, he said conditions have slipped back.
“Unfortunately, the improvement observed at our beaches last year seems to have been reversed this time round.
“We had hoped that the decline in Covid-related litter might bring an improvement in overall cleanliness, added to the fact that many who staycationed last year would have travelled abroad this summer.”
He said while the country’s most popular beaches are not heavily littered, they are also not as clean as they should be.
“Every day it seems we hear more of the dire consequences of marine litter, much of it plastic. We need to impress on people that simple individual actions such as discarding a coffee cup – or even a cigarette butt – have implications which stretch beyond the local environment.”
He added that people should take their rubbish home if no bin is available.
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