Dublin city has less litter now than in previous years - with the north inner city no longer deemed a "litter blackspot", according to a new survey.
The Irish Business Against Litter survey found major improvements in the country's cities and towns. Last year, just over half of those urban areas surveyed where found to be clean, while this year, three quarters were considered clean.
Cities, including Dublin, showed the biggest improvements, while Naas in Kildare was named the cleanest overall. Dublin’s north inner city was again considered "littered" - but it was much improved on 12 months ago, when it was labelled a "litter blackspot".
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The survey read: "The final litter survey of 2022 by business group Irish Business Against Litter has shown a significant rise in the numbers of areas deemed clean across Ireland. Three quarters of the 40 cities and towns surveyed were clean, compared to just over half this time last year.
"While Naas was again top of the rankings, city areas showed greatest improvement, notably Dublin City. IBAL says the prevalence of plastic bottles and cans in the study strengthens the case for the impending Deposit Return Scheme."
The survey continued: "Cleanliness levels nationwide improved by 6% in 2022, with Naas pipping Kilkenny and Maynooth in the rankings. Dublin City Centre rose to ‘moderately littered’."
IBAL also called for a deposit return scheme to be introduced to reduce the prevalence of plastic bottles. A spokesman said: “The results reflect a pattern of improvement since the peak of the Covid pandemic, when litter levels soared, especially in cities.
"In particular we are seeing local authorities concentrate their efforts on ridding areas of heavily littered sites. We have no reason to believe this improvement will not be sustained. Cleanliness is a virtuous circle: clean streets beget clean streets, inspiring a pride and consciousness of the environment among people.”
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