Louth County Council has praised the collaboration with voluntary groups in both Drogheda and Dundalk following a significant improvement for both towns in the Irish Business’ Against Litter (IBAL) League.
The first national litter survey of 2024 saw Drogheda jump four places to 20th in the litter league and retain the ‘Clean to European Norms’ status while Dundalk climbed the rankings to 30th place, up nine from last year, and improved their rating from ‘Littered’ to ‘Moderately Littered.’
In Drogheda IBAL judges visited ten locations across the town, awarding six Grade A’s, three Grade B’s and one Grade C.
The marked improvement in Drogheda’s scoring has seen the town climb 19 places from its ranking of 39th only two years ago when it was deemed seriously littered.
In the intervening two years Louth County Council has worked with the Drogheda Tidy Towns group, BIDS (Love Drogheda) and TUS to form a team that is improving the image and cleanliness of Drogheda.
This was the first of two annual surveys by IBAL since the introduction of the Government’s Deposit Return Scheme, and it was noted there was a fall in cans and plastic bottles on streets across the country, contributing to an overall improvement in litter levels.
Joan Martin, Chief Executive, Louth County Council welcomed the IBAL results.
“These are very encouraging results for both Drogheda and Dundalk, with both towns having shown real improvement in their litter league ranking and receiving positive feedback. I want to praise council staff and outdoor crews for all their work to improve public spaces and streetscapes.
“I would also like to thank the voluntary organisations across Louth who have contributed greatly to the upkeep of their local communities and helped to reduce littering in our towns.”
