Time to pick up on rubbish behaviour

UP TO 80% of litter in the countryside is deliberately thrown out of passing cars, a recent survey has shown.

People living near towns are well accustomed to the spectacle of takeaway food packaging, for instance, being strewn all over their roads after weekends. Having eaten their chips and burgers, selfish people just fling the cartons out the car windows.

People trying to deal with the littering problem, which is on the increase as the population rises and more cars go on the road, are looking for new solutions all the time.

The latest idea has come from IFA countryside chairman, David Wilkinson, who called on the convenience, retail and car distribution sectors to be pro-active in stopping packaging being thrown out car windows by unthinking drivers.

He also suggested that car manufacturers need to do more to provide in-car waste disposal facilities to discourage drivers from dumping waste.

“Confectionery and food are consumed in cars and manufacturers need to recognise this and provide adequate and convenient waste storage in cars,” he said.

Mr Wilkinson correctly commented that a walk along any rural road indicates clearly that thousands of drivers are using the countryside as a dumping ground for their rubbish.

“’This practice has to stop,” he declared.

While the obvious answer is for all road users to take their car rubbish home and dispose of it safely, people won’t do that unless they are offered some incentive, or punished.

Mr Wilkinson said that if car drivers and their passengers won’t co-operate, the IFA would pursue the government to impose much more serious fines for offenders.

He said companies whose packaging is being dumped from cars across the countryside — including soft drink bottles, cans, cigarettes and takeaway rubbish — must also take more responsibility by advising their customers to avoid littering.

“There should be a clear message — ‘Take your empties home’ — on all packaging, and all service stations and forecourts should have a consistent message to all drivers,” he said.

The pilot study on rural littering mentioned in the introduction was carried out in Co Wicklow by Professor of Environmental Science, Nick Gray, of Trinity College Dublin (TCD), and Rebecca Gray, a research assistant at TCD.

Quiet areas scarred by litter provided ample material. They focused on a 100km2 area, minutely scanning quite rural roads for various types of rubbish, of which there was no shortage.

At least 80% of identifiable items were intentionally dropped, or tossed, from vehicles, with most of the litter food-related, according to the study.

Other material was blown off trailers and included building materials such as polystyrene and insulation, while some plastic from farms was also in evidence. Interestingly, plastic shopping bags were rarely found — evidence of the undoubted success of the levy scheme.

Drinks containers, packaging items and other bags combined to form the greater part of the rubbish. In all, an average of 1,148 waste items were found per km2, an alarming statistic.

Prof Gray felt that if farmers and contractors removed plastic before hedges and roadside verges were cut, it would have a major effect on the visual impact of litter which appears at its greatest immediately after hedge and verge mowing.

Another recommendation to emerge from the study was a returnable levy on soft drinks and beer containers, something that would place the onus for recycling on retailers and manufacturers. The survey also called for incentives for voluntary groups to become more involved in keeping the countryside litter-free.

An aspect of littering that can sometimes be overlooked is the leaving of bags out unattended for collection by waste management contractors. When these bags are left at junctions and roadsides overnight, they are often torn open by birds, dogs and other animals and the contents blown all over the place.

Action, meanwhile, by Environment Minister John Gormley to raise on-the-spot litter fines to €150 has been welcomed. But there’s no point in having steep fines if the law is not enforced.

Fact is that not enough litter wardens are in place to ensure offenders are caught and that people think twice about littering.

A new report identified discarded chewing gum as a key litter problem.

Mr Gormley is to consider a levy on the chewing gum industry which would go towards the clean-up costs associated with chewing gum litter.

Fianna Fáil TD for Laois, Sean Fleming, is urging Mr Gormley to “hold firm” against any opposition from the industry.

He said the minister would be assured of a lot of public support on any action he takes to deal with the chewing gum issue.