Carrick-on-Shannon ranked top ten in 2023 IBAL rankings

The final litter survey 2023 by business group Irish Business Against Litter shows Carrick-on-Shannon ''cleaner than European norms'', ranked in the 8th spot.

The An Taisce report for Carrick on Shannon commented on the town's performance, with over half of the sites surveyed getting the top litter grade.

"There were a few sites which just missed the top litter grade and no heavily littered ones. It was great to see the big improvements along R280 Approach Road – this time, it was a top-ranking site. Other examples included the residential area of Summerhill Court and Aura – Leitrim Leisure Centre – a freshly presented facility with all aspects in good order," he said.

Longford and Roscommon towns have lost their ''clean'' status and are ''moderately littered'' in 27th and 31st position, respectively, in the ranking of 40 towns and cities nationwide.

For the first time since surveys began 20 years ago, no area was deemed ''seriously littered,'' with Maynooth claiming the top spot.

IBAL says the impending Deposit Return Scheme will improve cleanliness levels further but calls for action on coffee cups.

While litter levels rose slightly nationwide, over 60% of towns surveyed were deemed clean in 2023, with Maynooth edging out Mallow and much improved Sligo to take the title of cleanest town.

Waterford was again our cleanest city, ahead of Galway. These were the only cities to be judged ''clean'', with Cork City Centre improving to ''moderately littered'' but Dublin falling to ''littered'', alongside Limerick.

IBAL study found that the rise in coffee cup litter is now close to peak-COVID levels. Coffee cups were found at over 30% of the 500+ sites surveyed.

IBAL says Killarney has benefited from banning single-use cups last year, a move embraced by the community.

IBAL welcomes the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme next month 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 cents on cans and up to 25 cents on plastic bottles, refundable on their return.

There was another significant rise in the prevalence of disposable vapes, highlighted previously as an emerging source of litter. These were found in more than 10 per cent of all sites covered.