Illegal dumping, or fly-tipping, poses a health risk to plants, animals and people and it's also unsightly. Waste is dumped illegally by waste collectors without collection permits and people illegally dumping their own waste directly.

Most of the time, waste that's dumped illegally is recyclable and can be brought to recycling centres free of charge .

PURE (Protecting Uplands and Rural Environments), is an environmental project established to combat this increase in illegal dumping/fly-tipping that occurs in the Wicklow/Dublin uplands.

The PURE project is a regional initiative, the first of its kind in Ireland, which incorporates:

• Wicklow County Council, 
• South Dublin County Council,
• Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and
• Dublin City Council as well as
• Coillte,
• National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS),
• ESB, and
• a number of other organisations represented by the Wicklow Uplands Council.

To date, PURE have

• Carried out over 1,600 individual collections.
• Removed over 820 tonnes of illegally dumped rubbish since 2007
• Equivalent to 114,000 black rubbish bags
• 30 tonnes of illegally dumped waste per month in the upland areas

To Report illegal dumping or illegal waste contractors, lo-call 1850 365121. The information given is followed up and checked by the enforcement authorities - local authorities, the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement and the Gardaí - through the Environmental Enforcement Network.

The service has a success rate of approximately 70% to date.

Created: 23/2/2010