SUPERMARKET OUTLETS have been strongly criticised in a new litter survey by a business group.
Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) said that over one-quarter of supermarkets throughout the State were “seriously littered”.
Supermarket entrances, car parks and surrounding pavements were the most littered areas in many towns, according to the survey.
Overall, supermarket sites were twice as likely to be seriously littered as sites generally.
IBAL chairman Dr Tom Cavanagh accused local authorities of turning a blind eye to commercial litter offenders, adding that it was their job to enforce the law.
“They plead that resources are scarce, but it costs little to send a fine in the post . . . and the money is collected and retained by those authorities,” he said.
“The benefit in improved cleanliness is immediate.”
Dr Cavanagh warned that supermarkets, pubs and fast-food outlets would continue to “blot our landscape” until members and officials in local authorities issued fines instead of mere warnings.
The survey singled out Tesco, in Waterford, for its “persistent litter presence”, with no litter bins in the area surveyed.
Dunnes Stores, in Ballina, Co Mayo, was described as “by far the most heavily littered” of all the sites surveyed in the town. The recycling facility was particularly poor.
Much of the litter in Tesco, Mallow, Co Cork, was “old” , indicating a lack of thorough cleaning for quite some time, according to the survey.
The overall appearance was “shabby and uncared for”.
At Lidl/Argos, in Galway, the planted areas and the roadside edge of the car park were very dirty, filled with “a wide variety of all manner of litter”.
However, Superquinn, Blanchardstown, Dublin, was praised for being “in very good condition”, giving an overall impression of a very well maintained environment.
There was a complete absence of litter, according to the survey.
Meanwhile, schools and train stations around the country are showing significant improvement since IBAL began its surveys in 2002.
Over 90 per cent of schools, and 65 per cent of train stations, were found to be free of litter this year.
Litter Survey
Clean to European norms
Ashbourne (Aldi)
Ballinasloe (Lidl)
Blanchardstown (Superquinn)
Bray (Superquinn)
Gorey (Lidl)
Killarney (Supervalu)
Letterkenny (Aldi)
Midleton (Supervalu)
Monaghan (Tesco)
Newcastlewest (Lidl)
Roscommon (Dunnes Stores)
Rosslare (Aldi)
Shannon (Lidl)
Tralee (Lidl)
Tullamore (Dunnes Stores)
Moderately littered
Ashbourne (Tesco) Athlone (Lidl)
Balbriggan (Lidl)
Ballina (Tesco)
Buncrana (Lidl)
Carlow (Tesco)
Castlebar(Dunnes Stores)
Celbridge (Tesco)
Drogheda (Lidl)
Enniscorthy (Aldi)
Fermoy (Lidl)
Limerick (Lidl)
Lucan (Tesco)
Nenagh (Lidl)
New Ross (Tesco)
Trim (Lidl)
Seriously littered
Ballina (Dunnes Stores)
Ballinasloe (Costcutters)
Castlebar (Supervalu)
Enniscorthy (Dunnes Stores)
Galway (Lidl/Argos)
Mallow (Tesco)
Nenagh (Costcutters/O’Connors)
Portlaoise (Dunnes Stores)
Thurles (Tesco)
Waterford (Tesco)
Wicklow (Tesco)
