Ireland on track to miss EU recycling targets — EPA report
![Ireland on track to miss EU recycling targets — EPA report Ireland on track to miss EU recycling targets — EPA report](/cms_media/module_img/7733/3866737_1_articlesmall_ENVIRONMENT_20Drinks_20_2008220898.jpg)
The EPA published its Circular Economy and Waste Statistics Highlights Report for 2021 on Monday evening, with Ireland's level of 'waste generation' continuing to rise. Picture: PA
A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has shown Ireland is not on track to hit mandatory EU recycling targets that come in to place from 2025.
The EPA published its Circular Economy and Waste Statistics Highlights Report for 2021 on Monday evening, with Ireland's level of "waste generation" continuing to rise.
The group says Ireland is "overly reliant on unpredictable export markets".
The targets Ireland must meet by 2025 include a recycling rate of 50%, reaching a rate of municipal waste recycling of 55%, and recycling of packaging waste much reach 60%.
Data in the report revealed Ireland sent almost 382,000 tonnes of residual waste for incineration abroad.
Construction and demolition waste increased by 10% (up to 9m tonnes) while packing waste rose 9% (to 1.2m tonnes)
Just under 28% of plastic packaging generated in Ireland was recycled in 2021, with the remainder being treated by incineration (70%) and disposal (2%).
Director of EPA's office of environmental sustainability David Flynn said: "We continue to throw away far too much, wasting valuable materials. We live on a resource-finite planet and resource extraction causes greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and water stress.
"To reduce these impacts, we must accelerate our transition from a linear economy to a circular, more resource-efficient economy."
Mr Flynn said the focus at the moment needed to be on avoiding waste.
He added: "That means reusing construction waste materials where possible, becoming better at segregating our municipal waste and vastly improving the recycling of packaging materials.”
![Poolbeg incinerator in Dublin. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Poolbeg incinerator in Dublin. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7733/3866728_2_articleinline_Climate_20action2220211102p5353.jpg)
Fixes that could be implemented included:
- Improving waste prevention, especially in the C&D sector;
- Rolling out a brown bin service for organic waste to all customers;
- Improving waste segregation by businesses and householders putting their waste into the correct bins;
- Reducing our reliance on vulnerable export markets for our waste;
- Fully implementing our circular economy plan.
There were some positives in the EPA report.
At the moment, 69% of Irish households have access to a brown bin service, a rise of 5% on 2020.
72,000 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (Weee) was collected in 2021, a rise of 10%, while 'hazardous waste' dropped by 16% in the same year.
The latter was down to a number of factors, including:
- Incinerator bottom ash (IBA) was reclassified as a non-hazardous waste in April, 2020. In 2021 over 108,000 tonnes of IBA was exported as a non-hazardous waste;
- Dredging spoil decreased by almost 25,000 tonnes, due to reduced dredging activities at Dublin Port;
- Contaminated soils decreased by over 45,000 tonnes. Activities at Limerick Gas Works, previously a source of high tonnages of contaminated soil, came to an end in 2020.
The EPA did note that 2021 was a "covid year".
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