In 2018 Cork County Council responded to 2,422 incidents of littering and dumping across the county, issued 502 litter fines, took more than 750 waste enforcement actions, provided over 11,000 hours of CCTV surveillance at dumping black-spots and collected more than 100 tonnes of litter.
Aiming to highlight the important role everybody plays in tackling this issue, the Council’s Environment Department are running an Anti-Dumping Awareness Initiative, a targeted media campaign which aims to promote long term behavioural change and to reduce incidents of littering across Cork County.
Additional funding of €128,000 was made available by Cork County Council to community initiatives that tackle dumping, ranging from community clean ups, signage, installing barriers and fencing and improving black-spots with landscaping. All initiatives are supported by the Council’s litter patrols and surveillance, including temporary mobile CCTV at dumping black-spots.
This week the invaluable contribution of community groups will be acknowledged at the Council’s 23rd annual Anti-Litter Challenge Awards- a competition where Tidy Towns groups and other organisations compete to keep their local environment clear of litter.
23 towns entered this year competition where awards and cash prizes will be presented for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place across three categories at the ceremony in County Hall on Tuesday evening.
Cork North West Fine Gael General Election candidate Councillor John Paul O’Shea said: “Cork County Council is focused on cleaning up the county, for its residents and its visitors. This anti-dumping media campaign coincides with the community Anti Litter Challenge Awards for 2019 – highlighting the importance of collaboration between the Council and local community groups.”
Chief Executive of Cork County Council Tim Lucey commending the initiative, commenting:“Cork County Council expends significant resources investigating and cleaning up after those who dispose of waste illegally across our county. These resources can be better directed to community services and amenities if we can change the behaviour of the small minority of people choosing to dump.
“It’s also vital to recognise the significant work of community groups in tackling this problem. Our Anti-Litter Challenge was the first of its kind in the country and its success has inspired similar schemes elsewhere. In 2019 the Anti Litter Challenge has resulted in 113 awards to villages and towns with a total of €40,950 in prize money awarded. ”
To report littering or illegal dumping please contact the Councils anti-litter unit at 021 4285417 (9am-5pm Mon-Fri) or alternatively call the 24-hour National Environmental Complaints Line on 1850 365 121.
