IBAL litter rankings: Mullingar retains ‘clean’ status in 15th spot

The latest litter survey by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) shows Mullingar retaining its ‘clean’ status in 15th spot in the ranking of 40 cities and towns.

Athlone, also clean, has improved to 24th. Sligo again topped the IBAL ranking, and Limerick City Centre is the only area branded ‘littered’.

The An Taisce report on Mullingar stated: Top ranking sites in what was a very strong result for Mullingar included Pearse Street (freshly presented and very good with regards to litter), a number of approach roads and Town Park – the latter is a wonderful park environment, with a variety of features within, all of which were in very good condition. It was most encouraging to see an improvement at Old Trail Car Park – it had been heavily littered in 2025 IBAL visits but this time around it just missed the top litter grade. By far the most heavily littered site surveyed in Mullingar was Market Point Shopping Centre.

The An Taisce report on Athlone stated: A good result for Athlone, with no heavily littered sites this time around. It was encouraging to see improvements at Paradise Row, O’Dowd House, Court Devenish and Shops at the corner of Ballymahon Road & Southern Station Road – albeit, they were still littered, to some degree. Top ranking sites included the student accommodation at Glen Abhainn Village and Dublin Gate Street and Church Street.

The An Taisce report on Portlaoise stated: The dearth of top ranking sites have firmly placed Portlaoise towards the bottom of the league, with Main St and the Dublin approach road the only exceptions. If some of the ‘moderately littered’ sites improved, it could make a big difference to Portlaoise’s ranking. County Library Environs was heavily littered, both with casually discarded litter and accumulations by the lift-shaft. Portlaoise Shopping Centre was heavily littered – just one of two heavily littered shopping centres throughout the country. It was most encouraging to see some improvement at the residential area of Carmody Way and Harpur’s Lane.

No town or city occupied the “seriously littered” or “litter blackspot” categories at the foot of the IBAL table. Overall litter levels were on a par with last year, with 27 towns deemed clean. Sligo finished ahead of Monaghan and Leixlip, with Waterford – again Ireland’s cleanest city – in 4th spot.

“As the peak season for tourist visitors approaches, we have fewer littered areas than we’ve had at any time in the last 25 years,” commented IBAL’s Conor Horgan. Once again, the study showed a low number of very heavily littered sites among the 500-plus sites surveyed compared to previous years. “The job’s not done, but across the country, local authorities appear to have upped their game when it comes to tackling persistently littered sites and dumping in our towns and cities.”

Despite DRS, bottles and cans not disappearing from our streets

Plastic bottle and can litter was found in 19% and 22% respectively of sites surveyed - the highest levels since the Deposit Return Scheme was introduced. “If we had hoped that the DRS would see this litter disappear from our streets, it’s not happening,” says Conor Horgan. “15c or 25c does not appear enough to incentivise some people to return a bottle or can. That said, by reducing this litter by 50%-plus, the scheme’s impact on overall cleanliness levels is beyond dispute.”

The prevalence of coffee cups was at its highest level since 2023, making it one of the main sources of litter on our streets, behind sweet papers, fast food wrappers, plastic bags and cigarette butts. “Talk of a ‘latte levy’ has all but vanished, yet coffee cup litter clearly has not. The Government inaction on this persistent problem is baffling.”

The study also revealed a significant increase in cigarette butt litter compared to 2025. IBAL warns that butts are not only unsightly, but are a toxic single-use plastic that can contaminate the marine and land environment.

An Taisce receives funding from the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (through the Circular Economy Fund) to support the undertaking of IBAL surveys.

For An Taisce reports of individual areas see www.ibal.ie/anti-litter-league.

2026 IBAL ANTI-LITTER LEAGUE – ROUND 1 RESULTS

1 Sligo Cleaner than European Norms

2 Monaghan Cleaner than European Norms

3 Leixlip Cleaner than European Norms

4 Waterford City Cleaner than European Norms

T5 Ballinasloe Cleaner than European Norms

T5 Carrick on Shannon Cleaner than European Norms

T5 Gorey Cleaner than European Norms

8 Cavan Clean to European Norms

9 Killarney Clean to European Norms

10 Roscommon Clean to European Norms

T11 Dungarvan Clean to European Norms

T11 Newbridge Clean to European Norms

T11 Swords Clean to European Norms

14 Longford Clean to European Norms

15 Mullingar Clean to European Norms

16 Ballina Clean to European Norms

17 Cork City Centre Clean to European Norms

18 Navan Clean to European Norms

19 Ennis Clean to European Norms

20 Tralee Clean to European Norms

21 Letterkenny Clean to European Norms

22 Bray Clean to European Norms

23 Mahon Clean to European Norms

24 Athlone Clean to European Norms

25 Carlow Clean to European Norms

26 Galway City Centre Clean to European Norms

27 Drogheda Clean to European Norms

28 Clonmel Moderately littered

29 Fermoy Moderately littered

30 Kilkenny Moderately littered

31 Cork Northside Moderately littered

32 Galway Inner City - Ballybane Moderately littered

33 Dundalk Moderately littered

34 Ballymun Moderately littered

35 Dublin City Centre Moderately littered

36 Tallaght Moderately littered

37 Limerick City South - Galvone Moderately littered

38 Dublin North Inner City Moderately littered

39 Portlaoise Moderately littered

40 Limerick City Centre Littered