In spite of the fact that 76 per cent of Westmeath homes were provided with segregated waste collection, only 27 per cent of the county’s household waste was recycled last year while the remaining 73 per cent was landfilled, according to a new report.
The Service Indicators in Local Authorities 2007 report, published this week, also reveals that the number of households with segregated waste collection in 2007 dropped significantly from the previous year when every home in Westmeath had the option to recycle from home.
When it came to glass recycling facilities, Westmeath’s consumers had a choice of 46 bring banks across the county, with two civic amenity sites also in operation.
The report also assessed litter pollution across the country, revealing that Westmeath had no completely ‘litter free’ areas, while at the opposite end of the scale there were no ‘grossly polluted’ areas. Some 41 per cent of areas in Westmeath was described by the report as ‘slightly polluted’, 45 per cent were ‘moderately polluted’, and 14 per cent were ‘significantly polluted’. According to the figures, Westmeath had the third highest amount of ‘significantly polluted’ areas in the country, an improvement on the previous year when at 24 per cent the county had the highest number of areas falling under this category in the country. However, the majority of local authorities remained free of ‘grossly polluted’ areas last year.
Complaints concerning environmental pollution to Westmeath County Council increased from 1,363 in 2006 to 1,489 in 2007, all of which were investigated, and 499 of which resulted in enforcement procedures being taken last year. A total of 334 on-the-spot litter fines were issued in Westmeath during 2007.
Meanwhile the report also revealed that 72 per cent of primary school students and 81 per cent of secondary school students participated in environmental campaigns last year, an improvement of almost 10 per cent on the previous year.
