Masks and gloves add to litter woes as cities lose clean status

The survey showed personal protective equipment (PPE) litter to be widespread and a rise in the prevalence of cans and glass bottles (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

The lowest number of towns and cities in Ireland in 13 years have been deemed clean - with discarded face masks and gloves proving particularly widespread, a nationwide litter report has found.

Cork’s northside was among the chief litter hotspots, along with Dublin’s north inner city and Limerick’s city’s south, the first nationwide litter survey by Irish Business Against Litter (Ibal) since the Covid crisis, found.