Latest IBAL survey shows ‘much improved’ result for city

Dublin City Council says it is pleased with the results of today’s latest IBAL survey, which it says “clearly shows that the Council’s new 3 pillar waste strategy is working.”

The survey notes a ‘much improved’ result for the city overall, with the main shopping streets including Grafton St, O’Connell St, Henry St and Capel St all ‘very much deserving of the top litter grade’.

The Council is pleased that the survey finds a ‘much improved’ result for the North Inner City, but the Council also acknowledges that there is still work to do in this area and understands that this will take an ongoing effort.

The survey also notes that the recent Council initiatives, which are part of the 3 pillar strategy, ‘are likely to have contributed to the much improved result’.

Pillar 1 of the waste strategy looked at Operational Enhancements, Pillar 2 examined Enforcement and Regulation Change, while Pillar 3 dealt with a Litter Awareness and Prevention Advertising Campaign.

Over the past year, as part of its strategy, the Council has:

• Recruited 100 extra waste management staff
• Invested in new vehicles to tackle litter
• Expanded the 24-hour cleaning zones
• Removed the ability to present waste in plastic bags from 90 streets
• Facilitated installation of waste compacters in two city-centre locations to support the removal of the plastic bags
• Increased the street washing capability with a dedicated night-time street washing team, and a specialised wash vehicle per area and a city-wide rapid response team
• Appointed six new litter wardens including a night patrol service to step up enforcement
• Introduced a Litter Prevention and Awareness Campaign

Derek Kelly, Executive Manager, Environment and Transportation, Dublin City Council-“Overall this is a good result for us and we are obviously pleased with the outcome of this latest IBAL survey, notwithstanding the fact that we still have work to do in the city.

“Our staff have been working very hard on our new waste strategy and it’s great to see their efforts are clearly having the desired effect.

“However, I would also like to point out that the IBAL survey doesn’t compare like with like.

“It’s simply unfair to imagine that you can compare a capital city like Dublin which has a population of half a million people and gets millions of visitors each year, to regional cities and towns across the country.”

Dublin City Council has plans to facilitate the introduction of waste compactors at two sites on the northside of the city-centre in the coming weeks.

These will complement the waste compactors which were installed on St Stephens Green and Fownes St on the southside in October and take roughly 1,000 plastic bags off the streets each day.

The Council would like to repeat its appeal to the public to help it continue making progress in its ongoing efforts to improve the cleanliness of the city.

Businesses are also being reminded of their legal responsibility to keep the areas outside their premises clean and free of waste.