Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 30 Sep 1997

Vol. 480 No. 6

Written Answers - Litter Pollution.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

345 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will give details of the single biggest cause of litter in Ireland; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that spent matches, cigarette butts and packets are the biggest cause of litter in London, and that Westminster Council has 30 authorised cleansing officers employed in a two-month experiment to solve the problem; and the corresponding action, if any, he will take to deal with the same problem in this country. [14541/97]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. D. Wallace):

The composition of litter was examined in a national litter survey undertaken in 1995. The survey found the average breakdown of litter by weight to include the following: plastic content (e.g. bottles, bags, wrapping etc.), 15 per cent; paper content (e.g. newsprint, cardboard, packaging), 28 per cent; glass content (e.g. bottles, jars), 14 per cent; metal content (e.g. aluminium cans), 7 per cent; organic content (e.g. fruit, food), 29 per cent; other (e.g. cigarette ends, lollipop sticks), 7 per cent.

It is now a matter for local authorities to avail of their enhanced powers under the Litter Pollution Act, 1997, to combat litter pollution in their own functional areas. To support local authority implementation, my Department will shortly promote a public information campaign on the duties and responsibilities of individuals and occupiers of property under the Act to raise public consciousness of the new law on litter. I will also be making some limited grant assistance available to local authorities in the current year for selected projects by them to promote greater public awareness and education in relation to litter at local level. Applications for grants from local authorities are currently being examined in my Department.