Recycling Facts In Ireland: Learn All About Their Waste Management System

Recycling waste today is more critical than ever.

The recycling process includes turning the waste into a usable object. Ireland has its organizations overlooking and managing the whole process of recycling domestic waste and also ensures a deleterious environment, called the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Products and equipment that end up in the landfills in Ireland are medical waste, electrical equipment, steel cans, soft drinks cans, plastic bottles, plastic shopping bags, aluminum cans, food waste, and various types of hazardous waste and household waste.

The recycling process in Ireland is quite efficient and yields benefits accordingly. The latest figures from the EPA reflect that Ireland recycles 66% of the packaging waste, while 87% of the waste is recovered, which exceeds the EU targets.

Which is good because no one wants to be around hazardous waste, right? But this does not necessarily mean that it's enough.

The most popular recycled materials used as raw materials are recycled glass, recycled plastics, recycled paper, recycled bottles, recycled paper packaging, and several other recycled materials. Read on for some interesting facts on the usage and quality of recycled materials in Ireland. Afterward, also check out Ireland economy facts and things to do with kids in Ireland.

Recycling Domestic Waste

While each country more or less has different approaches, they share several national policies that are in place to keep domestic waste in check. EPA and Repak (Repak is the foremost organization of Ireland that recycles packaging waste) produce a report on recycling each year, which helps decipher the areas that require more work and progress.

Irish households play a significant role in the recycling process by separating the waste into their respective categories. Almost all the items we consume are recyclable materials, so why shouldn't Irish households be doing their part.

The color of the recycling bin is indicative of the waste they are to be filled with. The non-recyclable waste is to be thrown in the grey bin, while the green recycling bin is for packaging waste, glass, and other waste like plastic bottles or plastic bags, drink cans, paper, cardboard.

Swaying away from this pattern is Illegal, the recyclable trash is not to be mixed with non-recyclable rubbish. In some places across the country, houses have to pay for their waste in grey bins.

Ireland's Progress To EU Waste Targets

Along with other states, Ireland is required to meet the fixed EU waste targets, which include protecting the environment and securing our future by recycling our municipal waste.

Ireland's journey to meeting the EU waste Targets has been challenging, and in 2015, it met the EU Targets for the collection and recovery of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

But in 2016, even more arduous goals came into force. Eventually, by 2019, Ireland met all the EU targets, with a recycling rate of 67.5%.

of course, the recycling rate for each waste type was different: Plastic 35% (EU target: 22.5%), Paper 82% (EU target 60%), Glass 78% (EU target 60%), Metal 85% (EU target 50%) and Wood 81% (EU target 15%).

Ireland still has a long way to go to meet the 2030 emission reduction targets. Eurostat, EU's data analysis section, states that Ireland's plastic waste generation is higher than the EU average. The center of Ireland's many strategies for recycling waste has been the model of a Circular Economy.

Now, what does it say? This is where all kinds of waste are used more productively or returned to the economy, the target being zero waste. While also tackling issues ranging from climate change to pollution.

To further achieve these targets, Ireland, in 2002, started imposing the plastic bags Levy or environmental levy on retailers for selling plastic bags. It's also the first country to do so, thus encouraging the use of paper or clothed bags.

Heavily filled landfill sites are a natural consequence of the tons of waste generated. Recycled plastics and paper are to be used to manufacture packaging materials.

But, this is not where the issue ends; landfills are lethal and harm our health and environment. Accordingly, the government started imposing a landfill levy, and now only six landfill sites exist in Ireland.

Recycling In Northern Ireland

The region of Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom and is located in the northeast of the island of Ireland. Though experiencing staggering growth, Northern Ireland is on its path to realizing its aims and targets of recycling waste.

The local councils here have the prime responsibility of managing the waste. Approximate one million tons of waste is collected in Northern Ireland annually. While 50% of it is recycled, 29% is landfilled, and 20% is used for energy recovery.

The first Waste Management Strategy in Northern Ireland was published in 2000. After that, local councils formed three sub-regional partnerships for waste management- arc21 (consisting of councils in the east of Northern Ireland), the North West Region Waste Management Group, and SWaMP (the Southern Waste Management Partnership).

In 2015, SWaMP disbanded. Over the years, Northern Ireland has made considerable progress in its recycling rate, from roughly five % in 1999 to 51% in 2019–2020.

Northern Ireland has also seen a downward trend concerning the waste generated, from an all-time recorded high of 1,064,090 tons in 2006–2007 to a low of 913,546 tons in 2012–2013, rising to 998,985 tons in 2019–2020.

In Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) releases annual statistics regarding waste recycling. Now, Let's dive right into them and analyze Northern Irelands' Recycling strategy based on them:

There is a provision of Kerbside boxes to be stored with the recyclables, making up for 80% of waste. This and 25% of other wastes are recycled in Northern Ireland itself. But the rest is sent to the UK, Ireland, or Europe for recycling because their quality is not high enough to be recycled at Northern Irish companies.

In 2019, the rate of recycling was 51.1% which is 1.3% higher than the recycling rate recorded in 2018, and this is also the highest ever recorded.

Talking about recycling, do you know the country that recycles the most? It's Germany, whose recycling rate in 2017 was 66%.

As for the household recycling rate, it too saw some improvement, 51.9% in 2019/20, 1.8 percentage points higher than the 2018/19 household waste recycling rate. This household recovery rate is also higher than the EU Waste Framework Directive statutory target.

Also, the energy recovery rate was higher in 2019 and stood at 22.1%. Additionally, between 2018-2020 saw a decrease in the quantity of waste sent to landfills. This shows us that slow progress is still progress. The Environment Ministry of Northern Ireland made it binding on the local council to achieve a 60% waste recycling rate by 2020.

Composting In Ireland

First things first, what is this concept called composting? It is the method to convert the waste, such as garden waste and food waste, into decomposed organic material. It's a way of recycling organic material.

Composting reduces the need for landfills, and do you know why? Compost has a wide variety of rich nutrients, and substantially it is a suitable organism in your garden, helps retain moisture in the soil, and also works as free fertilizer.

Composting is also a more viable option for Irish households because otherwise, they have to pay to get their bins emptied.

Talking about the stats, the total waste collected for composting has increased by 15%, from 380,000 tons in 2017 to 436,000 tons in 2018. But these figures do not include the amount of material composed at homes and companies that composed their waste.

Waste imported to Ireland for treatment, and (iv) organic fines, arising from the pre-treatment of residual waste, accepted for bio stabilization are also reported separately.

Recycled materials like plastics, cars, and bottles are used to manufacture recycled paper packing, new glass, recycled glass, and various raw materials.

The majority (70%) of biodegradable kitchen and canteen waste was received from households for composting.

It's also been found that the majority (56%) of food collected for composing consists of food waste, garden waste, oil such as cooking oil or edible oil, and fats. Other than these, in 2018, agriculture waste, horticulture, hunting, fishing, and food processing waste were present.

What options do Irish households have for composting?

Brown Bins: These are supplied to almost every household, following the EU guidelines. Brown bins are used for dry or woody materials and other brown matter such as fallen leaves and tree-cuttings.

Green Bins: Wet and green material, such as vegetables and fruits, are to be discarded in the green bins.

Civic amenity centers can also be used for composting.

To add to that, the Ireland government has also made people aware of composting at their houses.

Ireland's National Biodegradable Waste Strategy, April 2006, reasserts that all households and businesses are to make provision for separate bins for food and garden waste, which will be managed biologically.

Eco Employment

Eco employment means jobs created due to or because of the ambitious targets set by a country centered around ecological or environmental issues. And Ireland is no exception, where Eco Employment has seen an upward trend over the past 11 years.

What are also called green jobs, eco employment is good for the environment, economy, and the employee and thus can be a game-changer in all aspects.

Eco Employment gets that job done by creating jobs worthwhile for a healthy environment and elevating economic growth.

Project Ireland 2040 seeks to further this trend by linking job creation and environmental challenges. In 2010. According to a report, around 50,000 jobs were created due to its target of recycling waste.

Not just in the UK but, it is a global practice. As per International Renewable Energies Agency (IRENA), the year 2017 saw the creation of 500,000 new jobs due to renewable energies. As of now, the estimation is that the sector employs 10 million people.

Another perspective is to formulate self eco employment, meaning to start one's own business focused on repairing and recycling waste. The Circular economy's potential for job growth has come to reality, it seems.

There are plenty of opportunities to create green jobs.

For instance, the 2019 Report on the Emissions Gap published by the United Nations Organization (ONU) states that by 2020 and 2030, there must be a reduction of 7.6% per annum in the global greenhouse gas emissions to meet the target set by Paris Agreement.

For a decarbonized economy to be in place, we must be more respectful of our environment.

The process of this transition will turn the game around for the economy, boost its growth, and create green jobs.

Ireland's 2020 budget statement says that the goal is to grow the economy while also reducing carbon emissions. This transition that we are talking about is also the government's primary plan for their future jobs program.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created many interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for recycling facts in Ireland, then why not take a look at Vikings in Ireland facts or facts about Ireland food.