Today (5th May 2021) Minister Eamon Ryan has published the 2020 National Litter Pollution Monitoring System (NLPMS) Report. The System was developed by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) and TOBIN Consulting Engineers in consultation with local authorities. Under the System, local authorities carry out surveys to determine the extent, composition and causes of litter pollution in their areas. The data obtained from the System enables local authorities to provide more effective litter management planning for their areas, to assess the effectiveness of their litter management strategies and to ensure the optimum allocation of its resources to tackle litter. It provides vital information to DECC on the national picture regarding litter pollution.
The 2020 NLPMS Report was prepared by TOBIN Consulting Engineers in our role as the Litter Monitoring Body. The 2020 NLPMS results can be summarised as follows:
• The percentage of unpolluted (LPI 1) areas in 2020 was 23.2%.
• The percentage of slightly polluted (LPI 2) areas in 2020 was 57.3%.
• The percentage of moderately polluted (LPI 3) areas in 2020 was 16.4%.
• The percentage of significantly polluted (LPI 4) areas in 2020 was 2.7%.
• The percentage of Grossly polluted areas (LPI 5) in 2020 was 0.5%.
• There has been a decrease in litter pollution nationally from 2019 to 2020.
Cigarette related litter (46.5%), packaging items (21.9%), food related litter (11.0%) and sweet related litter (9.5%) were the main litter constituents identified nationally.
Passing pedestrians (40.6%), passing motorists (23.7%), retail outlets (8.7%) and gathering points (5.3%) were identified as the main causative factors of litter nationally.
The 2020 NLPMS Report is available at: https://bit.ly/3vP2ZyN
For more information on the NLPMS please contact TOBIN’s Project Manager Allison Murphy (allison.murphy@tobin.ie)
