The Council has said it will write to local take-away food outlets to remind them of their responsibility under the Litter Pollution Act to keep the area within 100metres of their premises clear of litter.
The commitment came in response to a request from Independent Councillor Kevin Callan, who is also Chair of the Drogheda Tidy Towns Committee, at the February meeting of the Borough District of Drogheda.
Councillor Callan said it was clear that some local takeaways were not adhering to the law.
“You only have to look at certain parts of the town to see the rubbish” he said. “In recent weeks over ten bags of rubbish were cleared from along the river bank around Saint Dominic’s Bridge by Tidy Towns volunteers.
“A large portion of this waste was branded takeaway materials such as bags, burger boxes and drinks cups” he said.
He added that this material, much of which is plastic, was also in the river around Saint Dominic’s Bridge which then ends up being carried out to the sea.
“We have some people and businesses that go above and beyond in terms of working to keep our town clean and these businesses make Drogheda a welcoming place” he said.
“However there are some takeaways in particular that do not assist and in fact allow long standing waste from their businesses to be thrown all over the area and also overfill their own bins which then ends up all over the street.”
Callan welcomed the fact that the council were actively fining some property owners who had refused to take action on illegal dumping on their property where no effort was made to remove waste when requested by the council.
Responding to Councillor Callan, Willie Walsh of Louth County Council said he would look at undertaking to correspond with the businesses.
