Resources and raw materials

About 100 million tonnes of materials are used in Ireland each year. These materials are valuable and should be kept in use for as long as possible. However, most materials are used for a short period of time and often end up as waste. Reusing and repairing things help to reduce the amount of new materials we use – and also reduces environmental impacts such as increases in greenhouse gas emissions.

What are the challenges?

 Examples of challenges include:

• In Ireland, we waste about 800,00 tonnes of food a year, from primary production, manufacturing & processing, retail & distribution, restaurants & food services and households. 
• We extract almost 100 million tonnes of raw materials from the Irish environment each year (biomass, metallic and non metallic minerals and fossil fuels).
• Over two-thirds of the plastics in our bins are not currently recyclable.
• Many products are designed for single use or are thrown away after a short time.

By preventing waste and driving the circular economy, we can make the most of our resources and minimise the raw materials we use while also protecting the environment.

How does the EPA support circularity of resources and raw materials?

The EPA has roles in regulation, providing evidence and collaborating with others to support circularity of resources and raw materials.

Our activities include:

• We deliver national food waste prevention programmes: Stop Food Waste and the Food Waste Charter. Click on this link to find out more about Stop Food Waste.ie. Click on this link to find out more about the Food Waste Charter.
• We regulate for circularity, through End-of-Waste and By-Product Regulations, supporting recycling of materials and prevention of waste. Click on this link to find out more about End-of-Waste. Click on this link to find out more about By-Product Regulations.
• We provide evidence, through publishing national circular economy and waste statistics, behavioural research and a Circular Insights Series. Click on this link to find out more about circular economy and waste statistics.Click on this link to find out more about behavioural research.  Click on this link to find out more about Circular Insights Series. 
• We host a National Reuse and Repair Network, bringing together national organisations that have role & remit or opportunity to support and scale the reuse & repair sectors. Click on this link to find out  more about the National Reuse & Repair Network.
• We support Repairmystuff.ie, the national online repair directory, which has over 800 repair businesses registered. Click on this link to find out more about Repairmystuff.ie
• We sponsor a Special Award for Circular Economy in the annual SuperValu Tidy Towns Competition, supporting communities that reduce resource use through activities such as refusing, reusing, repairing and sharing. Click on this link to find out more about the Special Award in the annual SuperValu Tidy Towns Competition.