Household Waste Statistics for Ireland

Key trends

• 1.85 million t of household waste was managed in Ireland in 2020. This is an 18% increase since 2019 (refer to the Figure 1 above). Managed waste is waste that is collected from households or brought to waste collection centres.   
• Most of the household waste managed in Ireland in 2020 was collected at kerbside (65%), with smaller quantities collected via civic amenity sites, skips and bring banks.
• The quantity of household waste managed in Ireland in 2020 equates to 372 kilogrammes per person, up from 320 kg/person in 2019 and 314 kg/person in 2018.
• The large increase in household waste generated in 2020 is likely to be linked to a change in householders’ behaviours caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.  Public health guidelines requiring most of the population to remain at home for several months in 2020 is likely to have caused an increase in household waste generation. During this period many offices and buisnesses were closed so a decrease in commercial waste quantities is anticipated¹. The largest increases in household waste were:
  • Bulky waste collections (large household items such as furniture and electrical items), which increased by 35%, probably due to household clear-outs during the pandemic.
  • Waste such as glass bottles and metal cans brought to bring banks, which increased by 36%. This increase correlates with CSO economic statistics2 for 2020 where a 22% increase in spending on alcoholic beverages purchased for home consumption was reported.
• Over a third (39%) of all waste collected from households was placed in the residual waste (black) bin in 2020 (722,911 t). The residual waste bin should ideally not contain recyclable or organic waste as these wastes should be segregated for recycling or composting. The tonnage of residual waste increased by 14% when compared to the 2019 tonnage (634,824 t). Residual waste in Ireland is generally incinerated for energy recovery or landfilled. 
• Some 14% of household waste was collected in the recycling (green) bin in 2020 (267,590 t). The tonnage of recycling waste increase by 10% when compared to the 2019 tonnage (243,548 t). Previous EPA waste characterisation studies³ have shown that over a third of waste placed in household recycling bins was not recyclable and belongs in the residual waste or organic bin. 
• Organic waste collected in the brown bin accounted for 11% of all household waste managed in 2020 (199,823 t). The tonnage of organic waste increased of 25% when compared to the 2019 tonnage (159,385 t). When properly segregated, this organic waste gets composted or anaerobically digested to make biogas. However, previous EPA studies have shown that most household organic waste (over 60%) continues to be placed in the residual (black) or recycling bins and therefore not recycled. 
• An esimated further 31,700 t of household waste was unmanaged in 2020.  Unmanaged waste is waste that is not collected or brought to waste collection centres and is therefore likely to cause pollution in the environment because it is fly tipped or disposed of through backyard burning. 
  • The EPA bases its estimate of unmanaged household waste on the CSO Household Environmental Behaviours Survey⁴(2021), which estimated that 2% of households do not dispose of their residual waste by any of the generally acceptable methods.  This is less than the 3% percent of households estimated in the 2016 CSO Household Environmental Behaviours Survey, indicating that more householders disposed of their waste by acceptable methods in Ireland in 2020 than in 2016.
• Trend analysis (refer to Figure 2) of the amount of waste collected by household bin type between 2015 and 2020 indicates that:  
  • The amount of household residual waste collected decreased by 9% between 2015 and 2019. Residual waste accounted for 45% of all household waste collected at kerbside in 2019, down from 49% in 2015. However 2020 saw an increase in residual waste collected to above 2015 levels (700,911 t, representing 51% of all waste collected in 2020).
  • The amount of household waste collected in the recycling bin has increased slightly (by 5%) between 2015 and 2020, while the relative share of recycling waste (as a proportion of all household waste collected at kerbside) has remained relatively stable over the past 5 years (19% in 2020).
  • The most significant change has occurred in the tonnage of household organic waste collected at kerbside which has increased significantly (by 96%) in the last 5 years, from 102,003 tonnes in 2015 and to 199,823 tonnes 2020. Organic waste represented 14% of all household waste collected at kerbside in 2020, up from 7% in 2015.
• The trend analysis indicates that, while the brown bin roll out has been successful in reducing the proportion of organic waste in the residual bin, more needs to be done to support Irish householders to use recycling bins.

Additional Data

More data on the amount of waste collected from households within counties  and local authority areas are presented in Table 1 and the Figure 3 below.

There are significant variations between counties across Ireland in the overall quantity of household waste collected per person, as well as differences in the amount of waste collected by bin type (Figure 3 and Table 1). While further analysis into these trends will be undertaken, variations are likely to be linked with differences in the waste collection services and infrastructure provided (e.g. prevalence of 2-bin vs. 3-bin systems in rural vs. urban areas), large variations between counties in the share of the population using authorised waste collectors (as shown in Figure 3), and behavioural factors (such as bin sharing).

The three counties with lowest percentage of household residual bin collection services are Co. Kerry (54%), Co. Kilkenny (60%) and Co. Roscommon (61%) while the counties/areas with the highest percentage of residual bin collection services are Fingal (98%), Co. Kildare (95%) and Co. Louth (91%)

The three counties with lowest percentage of household recycling bin collection services are Co. Kerry (54%), Co. Kilkenny (59%) and and Co. Roscommon (59%)  while the counties/areas with the highest percentage of recycling bin collection services are Fingal (97%), Co. Kildare (94%) and Co. Meath (89%). 

The three counties with lowest number of brown bin collection services are Co. Cavan (12%), Co. Donegal (16%) and Co. Westmeath (16%), while the areas with the highest number of brown bin collection services are all in Dublin (Fingal (89%), Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown (73%) and South Dublin (75%). 

Future focus

Our focus for the future needs to be on achieving a circular economy and waste prevention so we can make the most of our resources while protecting the environment. Household waste generation in Ireland generally tends to be closely linked with lifestyle and consumption patterns.  However, it is notable that, personal consumption of goods and services fell significantly in 2020 as the pandemic changed the spending habits of Irish consumers due to widespread closure of many commercial and economic sectors, while household waste generation increased significantly, as more people stayed at home  (Figure 4 below). 

Reversing the upward trend in household waste generation will require the urgent implementation of policy measures contained in the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy designed to significantly cut down on packaging waste and food waste in particular.  Packaging waste makes up 29% of the waste in household residual and recycling bins collected at kerbside, and Ireland’s generation of packaging waste continues to rise. To tackle household waste generation, we need cut down on the amount of packaging placed on the market in the first place by innovating and moving to circular business models and ensure that any remaining packaging is designed either for reuse or is readily recyclable. We also need to do more to prevent food waste through initiatives such as Stop Food Waste. Human behaviour also plays a key role, as does the availability and accessibility of appropriate waste management options for householders. 

Improperly segregated household waste results in the cross-contamination of recyclables and inefficient waste management. Due to the nature of residual household waste, it is difficult to segregate recyclables once they are placed in the residual waste bin, meaning most of Ireland’s household waste continues to be incinerated or landfilled. The EPA is currently undertaking a new municipal household waste characterisation study which will be published in 2023. This study will provide an insight into how householders waste segregation practices have changed since the last characterisation study was carried in 2018.

The brown bin roll out to households has increased the composting rate of organic waste. The number of households with brown bins increased by approximately 64,000 in 2020 to 882,249. However only 64% of Irish households who had a kerbside bin collection service in 2020 had a brown bin (percentage includes bin sharing). Therefore, despite improved brown bin services and use, a large proportion of Ireland’s organic waste, including food waste, is not yet being recycled. New EU waste legislation means that the separate collection of biowaste will be mandatory from the end of 2023.

More needs to be done to support Irish householders to use bins and waste collection centres correctly, to expand waste collection and recycling infrastructure and to prevent and minimise waste all along the supply chain. Early implementation of the policy commitments in Ireland’s Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy will be instrumental in driving this change.

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¹ _{non-household municipal (commercial) data will from part of the municipal waste reporting scheduled for July 2022.}

_{² What we comsumed - CSO}

³_{The statistics on improperly segregated household waste were calculated by applying the results of the EPA 2018 Waste Characterisation Study to the tonnage of household waste managed in 2019.}

⁴ _{CSO, Household Environmental Behaviours - Waste and Recycling Quarter 3 (2021)}