CCTV clearly shows people involved in dumping in the Dublin Mountains
By Mary Dennehy
COVERT CCTV installed at several sites in the Dublin Mountains has obtained clear footage of people involved in illegal dumping in the uplands.
Last year, PURE, a partnership project established to combat illegal dumping and fly-tipping in the Dublin and Wicklow uplands, installed covert CCTV at several sites - with the footage obtained “clearly” identifying people involved in illegal dumping.
In 2017, PURE removed 200 tonnes of illegal dumping from the Dublin and Wicklow mountains, a reduction of 45 per cent when compared to 2007 when 360 tonnes of rubbish was removed.
The PURE truck is on the road every day and since the project began in 2007 has collected more than 3,000 tonnes of rubbish from over 10,000 illegal dumping sites in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains.
According to PURE that’s enough waste to fill more than 400,000 standard household black rubbish bags.
PURE has seen a “marked reduction” in illegal dumping in the area due to a multi-disciplinary approach including the removal and tracking of dumping, awareness and educational programmes, community projects, enforcement and preventative measures and covert cameras.
There has also been assistance from the public, which made approximately 10,000 reports of dumping to PURE.
Ian Davis, Project Manager of PURE, said: “We have been recording every location and incident of illegal dumping in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands since 2007, and have built up a base line data of all illegal dumping activities in the uplands during this period.
“We also record all data related to waste amounts collected.
“This is the first year that we can produce a 10-year comparison of illegal dumping in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands and we are delighted to see that there has been a 45 per cent reduction of illegal dumping in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands.”
In relation to the covert CCTV, Mr Davis said: “The CCTV footage clearly shows people both littering and dumping and provides us with evidence for who is responsible for these activities.
“We have footage of people driving to remote upland locations in the middle of the night and throwing out bags of rubbish from their boot and people in broad day light emptying the contents of their car boot at a woodland entrance.
“Others dumping van loads of green waste, and we also have footage of larger scale illegal dumping, which we hope will lead to waste management prosecutions.”
PURE has passed on the CCTV footage to the relevant local authorities, including South Dublin County Council, and the project is confident that the local authority will proceed with litter fines and prosecutions.
The covert CCTV programme will continue in 2018.
To report dumping in the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains call 1850 365 121.
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