Killarney’s innovative single use coffee cup initiative has won a major national award.

The first project of its kind in the country scooped the Best Environmental/Ecological category prize at the Local Authority Members’ Association (LAMA) All-Ireland Community and Council Awards at the weekend.

The awards were presented at a black tie gala in Dublin on Saturday night and Killarney was represented at the ceremony by Deputy Mayor Cllr Marie Moloney and Juliette Kelly of the Killarney Tidy Towns/Killarney Looking Good Committee.

Also in attendance were Mayor of Kerry Cllr Jim Finucane and Kerry County Council’s Director of Economic and Community Development, Niamh O’Sullivan.

The awards celebrate communities and councils working together, highlighting the great work done and recognising the phenomenal contribution made.

The adjudication commentary noted that Kerry County Council has supported the establishment and promotion of the Killarney project, making it the first town in Ireland to be declared single use coffee cup free.

The judges noted that the removal of over 1,000,000 single use cups on an annual basis was the equivalent of 18.5 tonnes of waste.

“It has seen the core objectives of the circular economy and sustainable tourism principles brought centre stage to the benefit of all in Killarney,” they said.

The Killarney coffee cup project had already won the overall prize at the annual Pakman Awards and it clearly illustrates that the town is certainly winning the struggle against disposable cups.

Mayor of Killarney Cllr Niall Kelleher, said as a member of LAMA, he was delighted to propose that the Killarney coffee cup project be put forward for the national award given the tremendous coming together of people to ensure the project worked.

“To remove over one million single use cups from the environment, including the national park and the amenities, is an achievement that Killarney can be very proud of,” the mayor said.

Killarney Tidy Towns Committee Chairman, Michael Gleeson, congratulated all involved in the project, the business owners who are backing the plan and the public for supporting it.

“This project aims to progressively reduce the number of disposable coffee cups which had, for too long, littered our footpaths and roadsides.

“A cleaner town and litter-free approach roads are better for local people and for visitors,” he said.

Local coffee shops and hotels continue their collective effort to eradicate single-use coffee and tea cups having switched to the reusable system in July of last year.

Since becoming Ireland’s first town to become single-use coffee cup free, the local businesses have witnessed a very positive reaction from locals and tourists.

The ground-breaking project – also the winner of the sustainability award in the 2023 Killarney Looking Good Competition – has been promoted and supported by local partners including Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce, Kerry County Council, Killarney Credit Union, Kerry Convention Bureau and AIB.

The decision to ban single-use cups was underpinned by complaints that some of Killarney's most visited beauty spots were being polluted and studies of clean-ups in the national park revealed that one of the most common forms of waste recovered was single-use coffee cups.