Illegal dumping in the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains has increased by almost 30 per cent in the first six months of this year, according to an environmental initiative designed to combat fly-tipping.
Mattresses, carpets, construction waste and car components were part of the 90,000kg of rubbish removed from scenic areas in south Dublin and north Wicklow by Pure (Protecting Uplands and Rural Environments), a partnership of State and voluntary groups.
The Department of the Environment-funded initiative, which involves local authorities, Coillte, the National Parks & Wildlife Service and community organisations, collected 20,000kg more illegally dumped waste in the first six months of the year than in the same period last year.
The increase was “very disheartening” as it followed an overall reduction in 2025, Pure manager Ian Davis said.
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“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,” he said. “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.”
A number of large-scale dumps were reported to Pure this year, with rubbish including beds, mattresses, carpets, chairs, couches, car seats, tables, cabinets, window frames, doors, clothes, electrical items, lawnmowers, timber, concrete blocks, pallets, tiles and slates.
One site very close to the Wicklow Way walking trail consisted of more than 7,000kg of construction and demolition waste dumped down a bank. There was also an increase in dumping in the Wicklow Mountains National Park “with multiple large-scale dumping sites blighting this extremely scenic, touristic and environmentally important landscape”, Davis said.
May was the busiest month this year with Pure removing approximately 20,000kg of waste, a 50 per cent increase compared to 2025.
Pure has been recording and mapping incidents, locations, quantity and nature of illegal dumping in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands since 2006. A total of 125,000kg of rubbish was collected last year, significantly less than in the project’s busiest year, 2008, when 440,000kg of waste was removed.
“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,” Davis said.
Dumping can be reported by email to info@pureproject.ie or by calling 0402-28662. Householders can check the National Waste Collection Permit Office nwcpo.ie or contact the waste management section of their relevant local authority to ensure that waste collectors have a valid waste collection permit.
