THE BIG READ: West Cork pollution complaints on the rise as illegal dumping hits record highs
Complaints regarding waste, water, noise and air pollution in West Cork are all on the rise - with illegal dumping the number one concern - leading to calls for a shakeup on bin charges.
In 2025, 290 complaints were made about waste, water, noise and air pollution in West Cork, a 7% increase on 2024 figures.
Waste is the number one issue with the public in West Cork.
Cork County Council data shows complaints about waste have increased by almost 15% from 2024 to 2025 across the entire county.
There were 920 fly-tipping complaints leading to investigations in 2025, compared to 891 in 2024 across the county - a 3.25% increase.
Worryingly, there were 742 fly-tipping clean-up jobs in 2024 but this dropped sharply to 433 in 2025.
And while there were 114 fly tipping units out and about in the county in 2024, this fell to just 106 in 2025.
Kanturk-Mallow holds the unenviable position at the top of the leader board for pollution complaints - going from 365 in 2024 to 419 last year - almost a 15% increase.
I n 2025 79% of complaints on pollution were closed but 21% remain open.
Ana Ospina, director at community-led climate action, biodiversity and sustainability Green Skibbereen, said: ‘This is what happens when you don't collect rubbish from people’s houses for free. People would not do this if they could get their rubbish collected from their houses.
‘People are dumping waste because of the cost attached to it. It’s a structural problem with the Government and councils and all the waste services are privatised. I know they'll say it’s tough, that people have to pay for it but for many during the cost-of-living crisis, it's just too expensive to get bins collected.
‘ It’s a luxury not everyone can afford. Even if the council could subsidise it for people on benefits - because if you're on benefits, you're going to feed your family before paying for waste.’
According to Cork County Council, the top waste items illegally dumped are household bagged waste and black sacks, bulky items (mattresses, sofas, white goods); construction and demolition waste (rubble, timber, tiles), green waste and soil/spoil; tyres and plastics, and occasional hazardous materials (paints, oils).
Ms Ospina, who lives in Skibbereen, feels a lack of public bins is a problem and more should be provided to help prevent fly-tipping.
But there’s also an issue with the design of the bins, she added.
‘There’s only two bins in the entire town,’ she said. ‘They all have tiny holes, so you can't put anything big in them. They (council) say we can’t have any more bins, as people will put rubbish in them but isn’t that the point and isn’t that better than fly-tipping?
‘If there were enough bins, this wouldn’t be the issue it is. It’s come to a point where there's a lack of willingness to solve this issue. Everyone passes the buck. The result is fly-tipping in areas of natural beauty which is what our entire economy is reliant on. It’s incredibly short-sighted.’
In recent months mounds of greasy, congealed food waste – thought to be from a fast food outlet – has been dumped on the outskirts of Skibbereen on more than one occasion.
Across the county, over 170 tonnes of waste was collected in 2024 but this dropped significantly to 127 tonnes in 2025.
In the last three months of 2025, there were four prosecutions under way in West Cork for fly-tipping.
By the end of the year, two cases had been finalised and two were pending. This was the highest number of proceedings in the entire county and double those in East Cork, Kanturk/Mallow.
There were 1,140 more complaints about waste than about water across the county last year.
And, not surprisingly, water is the second most complained about issue.
In total, there were 1,497 complaints about waste in 2025 compared to 1,302 a year prior.
In 2024, there were 334 complaints about water and, in 2025, an increase of almost 7%.
Interestingly, there was an almost an 11% rise in noise complaints - 164 in 2025, up from 148 in 2024.
And complaints about air pollution rose by two-thirds (62%), up from 147 in 2024 to 239 complaints the following year.
However West Cork fared comparably well as the situation of pollution complaints was much worse in East Cork, where there were 335 complaints in 2025 compared to 208 the year prior.
Most complaints were made by email in 2025 (39.59%), followed by phone (21.86%) and via contact centres (18.82%).
Just 3.34% of complaints came via elected representatives.
Fine Gael Cllr Brendan McCarthy noted that some fast food waste is a problem. He acknowledged issues with illegal dumping, adding: ‘We try to get the message out and we educate young kids about it.’
Cllr McCarthy, who’s also principal of Union Hall National School, said picking up rubbish and binning waste in the appropriate manner, is ‘part of being a good citizen’.
However, he added: ‘How do we get the message across when it’s not kids who are dumping rubbish? It’s adults dumping stuff around the place and even next to bins.’
Cllr McCarthy added: ‘Some people don't have household refuse [service] and they think they can leave rubbish next to bins in the village because they're emptied every day. And every day the staff collecting the rubbish find bags of rubbish next to bins.’
In January, Cllr McCarthy raised this issue at a council meeting.
He said rubbish was being dumped in glass recycling areas. ‘I don’t know what's the solution,’ he said. ‘It's hard to catch people. It might be something to do with the low number of prosecutions. We have a litter warden. He has a tough job. I think they do try to go through it to see if there’s any evidence to whoever dumped it.’
Cllr McCarthy recognised some householders don’t have bins and he conceded that ‘inflation might be something to do with it.’
But he added: ‘Lots of bin collecting companies and recycling centres are free. You can recycle almost everything.
‘There shouldn't be lots of rubbish in refuse bins. Maybe inflation does have something to do with this because of the cost of the bin charges. But you can legally get rid of your waste at recycling centres cheaper.
Moze Jacobs is co-founder of The West Cork Doughnut Economy Network - a group of people, businesses and organisations aiming to provide and support sustainable practices.
Ms Jacobs also felt illegal dumping is a ‘structural problem’, and a result of it being ‘increasingly difficult to get rid of waste without paying for it’.
Ms Moze noted: ‘All the dustbins are so small. If people have any waste, unless they go in together, to cover the cost, they have expensive monthly contributions to get their dustbins picked up. If they don’t have the money spare, there’s nowhere to put the rubbish.’
Reflecting on the data, she said it was heartening to hear so many people ‘worry about waste’ and she encouraged people to get involved in local community clean ups.
‘It doesn’t stop some people from dumping behind bushes or in a field,’ she said. ‘But it’s contributing to helping tackle the problem for the community.
‘There’s another side to this. Too much waste is produced. If all the companies producing products and selling them, could look at ways to minimise the waste, that would help massively.
‘And the public should aim to buy products without plastic. But I know that it can be expensive to shop for those types of products too. Long ago, all waste was organic. It wasn’t plastic and it didn't stay in the environment. We do need tougher regulation. We need businesses to think about the community and nature and not just profit.’
Cork County Council was contacted for comment.
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