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The PURE project is a regional initiative, the first of its kind in Ireland, which incorporates local authorities including; Wicklow County Council, South Dublin County Council, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Dublin City Council, as well as Coillte, National Parks & Wildlife Service, Fáilte Ireland, and a number of non-statutory organisations represented by the Wicklow Uplands Council, to halt incidents of small scale illegal dumping/fly-tipping in the Wicklow/Dublin upland regions.

The PURE project developed after a number of meeting forums were held between the associated organisations over a one year period, between 2005 and 2006, with the objective of finding a solution to the increase of fly-tipping and small scale illegal dumping activity in the Wicklow/Dublin upland regions. Each of the organisations associated with the PURE project are continually affected by the illegal dumping problem.

PURE is a pilot project funded by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the first of its kind in Ireland. It operates on a regional basis concentrating on the Wicklow/Dublin upland areas initially securing funding for a three year period, from 2006 to 2008.  At the conclusion of the three years the project was evaluated to determine whether it should be extended.  In December 2008 the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Mr. John Gormley, announced that PURE would receive funding for a further three year period from the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government.  Although the Minister acknowledged that the partnership project was a success, he also stressed that, ‘while progress has clearly been made, there is no room for complacency’. 

To tackle the dumping problem the PURE project has established a number of initiatives including;

A lo-call-phone-line 1850 365 121, operating 24 hours a day 365 days of the year, allows any member of the public to report incidents of illegal dumping, or, individuals who are responsible for such activities. Callers are urged to provide accurate descriptions of both the location and waste type to the operators, and all calls are dealt with in strict confidence. Feedback on a location affected by dumping can be requested and the PURE project endeavours to contact each caller who leaves their name and details with an update on the situation.  Since the establishment of the PURE project, the lo-call-phone-line 1850 365 121, and the PURE office have received over 2,797 reports of illegal dumping.

Each report/complaint received is investigated by the relevant Local Authority. We then send out our dedicated truck which provides a more effective clean-up response time to incidents of illegal dumping and insures a swift removal of the material from the landscape. Research has demonstrated that a prompt removal of illegal dumping reduces further dumping in an area.

Each dumping incident is recorded separately and entered into a specially designed data base providing information on the location of the dumping, waste type, amount, etc. This enables us to determine who is responsible for the dumping, i.e., householder (domestic rubbish-single bag etc.), unauthorised waste collector (multiple bags, furniture, etc.), Builder (construction and demolition, etc.).

The Installation and deployment of covert CCTV equipment in areas which are severely affected by illegal dumping will assist in further prosecutions of offenders.

The project are determined to "Name and Shame" all offenders responsible for dumping in both the regional and national media.

An education programme designed for primary schools entitled, "Primary Schools Teachers' Pack" was officially launched in December 2007. This education pack provides teachers with a user friendly teaching programme incorporating fun and interesting ways for children to learn about their environment and the negative impact of illegal dumping. The education pack was designed to accompany the current primary school curriculum and is distributed to all schools in Wicklow, South Dublin and Dun-Laoghaire Rathdown regions.  All of the educational material can be downloaded and is available free of charge in the Education section on this website.

In conjunction with the education programme PURE promote public awareness campaigns and the distribution of informational literature which informs the public on the detrimental affects of fly-tipping/illegal dumping.

Updates on the PURE project are provided to the media on a regular basis outlining any special events or news stories. See Press Room for further information on media coverage on the PURE project.