More than half of Ireland’s daily household and business waste is burned or sent to landfill and there has been no improvement in recycling rates for a decade, according to a new report.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said a further 400,000 tonnes of municipal waste must be recycled annually for Ireland to meet its mandatory recycling targets.
However, the amount of packaging waste – such as containers, boxes and wrappers – has grown four times faster than recycling rates since 2016.
The torrent of waste Ireland generates creates challenges not only for its management, but also for meeting obligations under EU regulations.
RM Block
The State is supposed to recycle 55 per cent of municipal waste, but the rate now stands at 42 per cent.
A specific target for packaging waste requires 65 per cent to be recycled, but the rate is 59 per cent.
Plastic packaging is particularly problematic, with the target set at 50 per cent but with just 30 per cent being recycled and the remaining 70 per cent incinerated.
David Flynn, EPA director of environmental sustainability, said waste volumes must fall and recycling must increase.
“Ireland’s waste generation is too high,” he said. “Ireland needs to make measurable progress on stalled recycling rates and reduce overall consumption.”
The EPA figures, published on Wednesday, relate to 2023 when 3.13 million tonnes of municipal waste were generated from the everyday activities of homes, shops, schools and offices.
That represents a tiny reduction on 2022 but a 16 per cent increase since 2016.
Of those 3.13 million tonnes, 1.3 million were recycled as materials or compost and another 1.3 million tonnes were incinerated.
Incineration is sometimes termed waste recovery as the waste can be burned to produce energy for industry, heat or electricity generation.
However, a lot of that “recovery” happens outside Ireland as the country exported 1.2 million tonnes of municipal waste, 38 per cent of which was incinerated.
“We need investment in recycling infrastructure and to stop exporting a significant amount of our municipal waste to other countries,” Mr Flynn said.
Around 450,000 tonnes of waste, or 14 per cent, was landfilled – which is the least environmentally sound method of disposal.
Although that figure has fallen dramatically from 80 per cent around 20 years ago, it is still well above the 10 per cent target.
While municipal waste volumes remain high, they are dwarfed by construction waste which reaches 9 million tonnes annually. This comprises materials from demolition works as well as leftovers from construction projects such as metal, wood, glass, plastic, brick, tile, gypsum, tar, stones and soil.
Most is recycled or used as backfill in roads and foundations, but the volumes are growing: 450,000 tonnes had to be sent abroad for management in 2023.
“As the industry grows, companies need to urgently prevent waste and maximise the use of recycled and recyclable products,” said Warren Phelan, the EPA’s circular economy manager.
