Ireland's waste has surged by 20% in last decade

Over the last 10 years Ireland’s recycling rate has stagnated and mandatory targets for municipal and plastic packaging are at a high risk of not being met.

Ireland sent over one million tonnes of waste abroad in 2022 because it lacked the capacity to treat it here, and the amount of waste generated each year in the country has grown by over 20% in the last decade.

Publishing the latest statistics, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that Ireland’s recycling rate has not improved over the last 10 years and that it is time to move away from a “wasteful linear economy”.