An operation to remove some 200 dumped tyres from the scenic Featherbeds area of the Dublin mountains will resume on Monday.
Many of the tyres, found late last week along the road from Piperstown up to the mountains, had been rolled into bogs and winches and pulleys were needed to take some of them out.
The clean-up effort is the latest response to a series of illegal dumping incidents in the area that are costing local authorities millions of euro every year .
A three-tonne lorry belonging to the environmental group Pure is being used for the operation, which began on Friday when a full load of tyres was removed to a recycling centre. Representatives of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Coillte, and local authorities are also involved.
Ian Davies, project manager with Pure, said the location where the tyres were dumped is regularly spoiled by loads dumped from small lorries, as well as abandoned domestic rubbish, garden waste and electrical kitchen appliances.
Unregistered
Mr Davies said people who hand over waste to an unregistered waste collectors are responsible.
“We’d advise householders to always ask to see a company’s waste collection permit before giving them the job,” he said. “We all have to work together to combat this type of dumping in our mountain areas, which is unfortunately getting worse.”
Figures from South Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown show the councils are spending some €3 million a year between them clearing illegally dumped waste from open spaces.
Dublin City Council last year reported that about half of all households in its area had not signed up to any authorised waste collection service, despite a legal obligation to do so.
Shocked
Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring last year said he was shocked by the levels of dumping in the Featherbeds area when the State bought 5,000 acres of land there to expand the Wicklow Mountains National Park.
Mr Davies paid tribute to locals in the Featherbeds area who regularly clean up along the rural roads as well a groups of walkers “who are not from the area but who have seen rubbish on their walks and want to help”.
Environmental group Pure’s work is funded by local authorities, Coillte and the the Department of Environment. The organisation has identified some 150 miles of rural road as part of its Pure Mile project, which sees communities adopt a mile of road with the aim of keeping the stretch free from litter.
An awards ceremony for groups taking part in the Pure Mile initiative is being held in the Brooke Lodge, Macreddin Village in Wicklow on Tuesday.
