140,000kg of litter dumped in uplands home cooking

THE environmental initiative

Pure removed over 140,000kg (140 tonnes) of illegally dumped waste from the remote, beautiful, and scenic Wicklow/ Dublin Uplands last year alone. If you compare the amount of dumping collected by Pure in 2022, which was 140 tonnes of waste, to 2008 which was their busiest year, when they removed 440 tonnes, the initiative has seen a 68% reduction in illegal dumping in Wicklow/Dublin Uplands.

Minister of State Ossian Smyth with responsibility for Public Procurement, eGovernment and Circular Economy said: “Everyone who spends time in the beautiful Wicklow and Dublin uplands benefits from the work of the Pure Project and the efforts of the volunteers who participate annually in the Pure Mile Initiative.

“The reduction in illegal dumping in the area is impressive and my department is pleased to support this work,” he added.

The Pure Truck is on the road every day, and since Pure was established in 2006, it has removed over 3,800,000kg (3,800 tonnes) of rubbish from over 14,000 illegal dumping sites in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands with the project processing over 15,000 reports/ complaints.

If you were to put all the rubbish that Pure has removed from the uplands into standard household rubbish bags, they would fill over 400,000 bags. If you lined up all these bags on the road, they would stretch all the way from Dublin to Dingle.

Ian Davis, Pure Manager, commented: ‘Illegal dumping is not unique to the Wicklow/ Dublin uplands, however, while most regions in Ireland are currently reporting an increase in illegal dumping, Pure are seeing a decrease.

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