Huge spike in illegal dumping in Dublin / Wicklow uplands

The environmental initiative Pure has recorded a spike in illegal dumping in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands in the first half of 2026, with 90,000 kg of waste collected.

To date Pure has already collected 20,000 kg more illegally dumped waste, litter, and rubbish, in the first six months of this year when compared to last year in 2025, including at sites on Piperstown Road and Cunard Road.

If this trend continues, it is estimated that they will remove 180,000 kg by the end of the year – this represents a 44 per cent increase in illegal dumping compared to 2025.

In spite of this, Pure noted that its efforts, along with those of statutory and non-statutory organisations, as well as members of the public, have been “extremely successful.”

Pure Manager Ian Davis described the situation as “disheartening” and appealed to the public to check for valid waste permits from collectors.

Mr Davis said: “This increase in illegal dumping is very disheartening for Pure, all the stakeholders involved in Pure, and all the Pure Mile Volunteers, especially when we recorded a reduction in 2025.

“It would appear that people are availing of unauthorised waste collectors to dispose of their waste and invariably all the waste that they hand over ends up dumped in the Wicklow/Dublin uplands.

“We are appealing to the public to check that all waste collectors have a valid waste collection permit and if unsure to contact their relevant local authority.”

The Pure Mile Volunteers have been extremely busy in the first six months of 2026 with over 2,100 bags of litter and rubbish already removed from the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands with approximately eight hundred events so far this year.

However, despite concerns about this year’s increase in illegal dumping, the project noted that both the projected figure for this year and last year’s total pale in comparison to the peak of 2008, when they collected 440,000kg of waste – 2025 represented a 71 per cent reduction since then.

The Pure Project is a dedicated environmental partnership established in 2006 to combat,

map, and remove illegal waste dumping across the scenic Wicklow and Dublin uplands in Ireland.

Pure is scheduled to finish in December this year. However, due to the success of the project over the past 20 years, they are confident that the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, will continue to fund the project and had made a submission for three years’ worth of funding in March, and noted the Department’s support for the work done.

“It is vital that we continue to monitor the situation, continue working with our stakeholders to investigate sites that may contain evidence, and ensure that we remove illegal dumping quickly from the Wicklow/Dublin uplands.

“Because what we have learned in the past 20 years is, if you leave dumping on the environment, it attracts more dumping.”