New campaign group aims to make illegal dumping a thing of the past
A new campaign group called “Rubbish-Free in 3” has spelt out it’s 3 step plan to rid Ireland of illegal dumping within 3 years. Press Relations Officer for the group, David Maher, explains “We created the website www.rubbishfreein3.ie to highlight both the issue of illegal dumping and steps necessary to tackle it. Right across Ireland tidy town groups are finding we are winning the battle against litter but losing the war on illegal dumping. Quite simply the problem is that 100,000s of houses and businesses across the country have not signed up to any refuse collection service and unfortunately a very large amount of this is being illegally dumped on an almost industrial scale on roadsides, woods, canals and rivers.”
Maher continues: “The effects of this on Ireland are hugely damaging to our tourist and food industries, the quality of life of our citizens, the clean up costs borne by County Councils, Coillte, Bord Na Mona and it is very damaging to the civic spirit in our society. It is depressing to see the great work of Tidy Towns groups being so undermined by the sheer scale of illegal dumping. Voluntary groups can only do so much but we need the government to stand up and be counted on this issue. The current ‘optional’ system of paying for waste is the root cause of the problem.”
The group explains that “Though the responsibility for waste management lies with local authorities the problem of illegal dumping is very much a national issue. We have laid out a 3 point plan which if implemented could eliminate this problem within 3 years
- Accept there is a problem and get an across-the-board political commitment to resolving it
- Bring together all the stakeholders to chart out a strategy to achieve the goal of an Ireland free of illegal dumping and how this is to be funded
- The Minister for Environment to take ownership of the plan and it’s implementation within 3 years i.e. by 26th February 2019.
Maher concludes “Every citizen has the right to live in an environment free of litter and illegal dumping. What we need now is for the various political parties to buy into this principle and act to make it a reality within 3 years of the election. We have contacted all the main political Parties and so far 3 (Labour, The Greens and Fianna Fail) have signed up to support our campaign”.
Watch the video below to learn more or visit the website www.rubbishfreein3.ie . You can also follow updates on the Facebook page
Contact: David Maher Press Relations Officer is David Maher 086 3475357 info@rubbishfreein3.ie
