Cigarettes most littered

Cigarettes account for more than half of all litter in Ireland, reports The Irish Times citing the National Litter Pollution Monitoring System report.

Representing nearly 55 percent of all litter in Ireland, cigarette litter is well ahead of the next biggest offender, packaging items, which account for 18.2 percent of litter composition nationwide.

Pedestrians are responsible for 42 percent of the litter dropped across the country while motorists account for 22.4 percent, according to the report.

The report also contained some good news. Of the locations surveyed 20.5 percent were free of pollution, 4.9 percent more than in the previous year. The amount of chewing gum litter has halved since 2016

Minister for the Environment Richard Bruton lamented people’s apparent tolerance for cigarette litter.

“Littering could be halved if cigarette butts were properly disposed of,” he was quoted as saying. “We seem to have a blind spot for this behavior—it is six times more prevalent than sweet papers.”