Over 20% increase of waste levels in the past decade in Ireland

DUBLIN, Ireland: Ireland's waste levels have surged by over 20 percent in the past decade, while its recycling rate has remained stagnant, according to a new report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Circular Economy and Waste Statistics Highlights Report 2022 reveals that Ireland is "now almost certain" to miss its European Union recycling targets for 2025. These include a requirement to recycle 55 percent of municipal waste and meet specific targets for packaging waste.

Half of Ireland's waste comes from the construction industry, where reuse and recovery of materials are notably high at 82 percent, surpassing the sector's target of 70 percent. However, much of this success relies on backfilling and land restoration.

The report also highlights serious vulnerabilities in Ireland's waste management system. The country remains heavily dependent on exporting waste, with 38 percent -about 1.2 million tonnes of municipal waste-sent abroad for treatment.

David Flynn, the EPA director, expressed concern over Ireland's stalled progress toward a circular economy, where resources are reused, repaired, and repurposed before recycling.

"Current measures to prevent waste, to promote reuse, and to encourage recycling are not enough to meet mandatory municipal waste and plastic packaging targets," Flynn said.

"The challenge for Ireland is to reverse these trends and significantly reduce waste production and increase reuse and recycling. Strong implementation of existing policies and the introduction of new measures that support investment in new circular economy infrastructure will help move us away from a wasteful linear economy."

The stagnation is reflected in Ireland's 41 percent recycling rate, which has remained unchanged for several years. This falls short compared to Northern Ireland's rate of 49.7 percent in 2022-2023.

Warren Phelan, the EPA's Circular Economy Programme Manager, emphasized the need for transformative changes to reduce consumption and waste.

"Deeper change is needed right across the economy to accelerate the transition to a more circular economy," Phelan said.

"Effective regulation, incentives, and enforcement are required to influence businesses and consumers to adopt best practices in production, supply, purchasing, use and reuse of goods, products and services," he added.