Survey finds 57% of farm families burn their rubbish

ILLEGAL backyard burning has become widespread across the south-west since the introduction of pay-by-weight bin charges, a major new report has found.

Nearly half of 1,200 families surveyed in west Cork admitted to burning their rubbish, the report on behalf of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) found.

Rural farming households had the highest rate of burning, at 57%. The report’s authors said that people appear to be unaware that burning rubbish was against the law.