DHU 'Wonderfully presented' Mallow does well in IBAL survey

Mallow has performed well in the latest IBAL (Irish Business Against Litter) survey, coming second of the 40 towns and large areas surveyed nationwide.

The north Cork town is considered ‘cleaner than European norms’, coming second to Maynooth, Co. Meath. The town was the only one from county Cork to feature on the list, with Cork Northside and Mahon coming 35th and 36th respectively.

The An Taisce report, published earlier this week, noted that the town had achieved its best-ever position, commending the areas of Tip O’Neill Park and the Spa House grounds as ‘wonderfully presented and maintained’. Muddy Hill carpark was also observed to be in very good condition and the grotto within ‘lovingly tended’.

Areas that scored a little less well included the picnic area on the approach road from Mallow Racecourse, which was seen to be well-presented bar coffee cups, sweet papers and fast-food wrappers, and the Market Square Shopping Centre where there was cigatette and vaping-related rubbish.

In terms of dereliction, it was noted that the Main Street had a ‘seemingly high number of vacant/closed down/derelict buildings, but apart from one, they hadn’t become a magnet for litter, as can so easily happen. While these buildings presented poorly, the Main Street wasn’t littered’.

Waterford was judged to be the cleanest city of those surveyed, while both Dublin and Limerick city centres lingered at the rear of the table, with Dublin North Inner City coming last.

CUPS AND VAPES

Coffee cup litter is now close to peak-Covid levels, with IBAL's Conor Horgan expressing concern at potential delays in the coffee cup levy.

“We believe this action is needed to stamp out a product which is out of step with the circular economy. Irrespective of how recyclable or compostable take-away cups are, these statistics show too many of them are ending up on our streets.”

IBAL says Killarney has benefited from having banned single-use cups last year, a move met with little or no resistance from the community.

Next month will see the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme as a potential game-changer in the fight against litter, much as the plastic bag levy was. The scheme will see consumers pay a deposit of 15 cent on cans and up to 25 cent on plastic bottles, refundable on their return.

There was another significant rise in the prevalence of disposable vapes, where they were found in more than 10% of all sites covered, double the figure from the previous year.