Waste infrastructure in Ireland
EPA waste data release 23 March 2022. Latest reference year 2021.
This release presents the waste management infrastructure and waste capacity in Ireland for certain waste treatment activities.
Proactive planning for adequate waste treatment capacity in Ireland is essential to minimise negative environmental impacts. Ireland has some waste infrastructure deficits, such as the lack of a hazardous waste landfill. There is also limited capacity for some other waste/resource streams, in particular for recycling of paper & cardboard, plastics and some metals. These waste/resource streams are generally exported for recycling.
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Table 1. Number of operational municipal landfills and incinerators, 2007 to 2021
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Number of landfills accepting municipal waste for disposal 29 31 28 28 21 18 11 9 6 7 5 5 4 3 3 Number of municipal waste incinerators 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 Open in Excel: Infrastructure Table 1. Number of operational municipal landfills and in (XLS 10KB)
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Table 2. Operational municipal landfills in 2020
Authorisation number Facility name and location Waste for disposal (maximum tonnes per annum) Waste types for disposal (maximum tonnes per annum)1 Waste types for recovery (maximum tonnes per annum)1 W0146 Knockharley Landfill Co. Meath 175,000 100,000 household 45,000 commercial 30,000 industrial 25,000 construction & demolition 70,000 inert waste W0165 Ballynagran Residual Landfill Co. Wicklow 175,000 62,500 household 67,500 commercial 45,000 industrial 28,000 construction & demolition W0201 Drehid Waste Management Facility Co. Kildare 120,000 120,000 non-hazardous municipal, commercial and industrial wastes No limit for inert waste where used in landfill engineering Total 470,000 Table Notes 1: See licence schedules for more detailed information on waste acceptance criteria. Available at http://www.epa.ie/ Open in Excel: Infrastructure Table 2. Landfills accepting municipal waste for disposal, 2020 (XLS 11KB)
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Table 3. Authorised waste to energy capacity, 2019
Authorised waste to energy capacity in Ireland Authorisation Number Maximum waste acceptance limit per year (tonnes) Incineration Indaver Ireland Ltd. W0167 235,000 Dublin Waste to Energy Ltd. W0232 600,000 Co-incineration Lagan Cement P0487 95,000 Irish Cement Ltd. P0030 120,000 Quinn Cement Ltd. P0378 127,875 Total 1,177,875 Open in Excel: Infrastructure Table 3. Authorised waste to energy capacity, 2019 (XLS 10KB)
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Table 4. Authorised capacity for composting and anaerobic digestion, 2019
Maximum annual intake authorised for: Tonnes per annum Composting, anaerobic digestion and biostabilisation of organic fines1 687,660 Composting2 Approx. 459,000 Anaerobic digestion2 Approx. 110,000 Biostabilisation of organic fines2 Approx. 143,700 Table Notes 1: Does not include facilities where only waste generated on-site is treated on-site such as at industrial installations. 2: Approximate as some facilities carry out more than one activity e.g. composting and biostabiliation. Open in Excel: Infrastructure Table 4. Authorised capacity for composting, anaerobic digestion, (XLS 10KB)
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Table 5. Composting and anaerobic digestion capacity, by facility, 2019
Facility Name Authorisation number Composting activity Anaerobic digestion activity Biostabilisation of organic fines Location Maximum annual intake (tonnes per annum) under authorisation Athchursáil Árann Teoranta COMP-19 Yes No No Co. Galway 60 Bord na Móna PLC Kilberry Compost Facility W0198 Yes No No Co. Kildare 96,000 Bord Na Móna PLC (Drehid Landfill) W0201 Yes No Yes Co. Kildare 25,000 Bruscar Bhearna Teoranta t/a Barna Waste W0106 Yes No No Co. Galway 40,000 Clare County Council Central Waste Management Facility W0109 Yes No No Co. Clare 2,000 Cleary Compost and Shredding Ltd WFP-KE-10-0064-01 Yes No No Co. Kildare 10,000 Cremin’s Farm Compost Ltd WFP/L/2018/23A/R9 Yes No No Co. Limerick 10,000 Crystalhill Inn WFP-KK-16-0001-01 Yes No No Co. Kilkenny 10,000 CTO Environmental Solutions Ltd WFP-CK-09-0018-03 Yes No No Co. Cork 10,000 Enrich Environmental Ltd P1013 Yes No Yes Co. Meath 50,000 Enviro Grind Ltd WFP-DL-17-004-05 Yes No No Co. Donegal 10,000 Garden Waste Recycling Ltd WFP-KE-19-0095-01 Yes No No Co. Kildare 4,000 Kings Tree Services Ltd t/a Greenking Composting Ltd W0218 Yes No No Co. Wicklow 40,000 Limerick City and County Council (Mungret Facility) R02188 Yes No No Co. Limerick 5,000 Louth County Council Dundalk Landfill W0034 Yes No No Co. Louth 4,000 M & T Plant Hire Ltd WFP-WX-17-0129-01 Yes No No Co. Wexford 10,000 Michael Dolan t/a Johnstown Recycling WFP-WM-2015-001 Yes No No Co. Westmeath 3,000 Molaisin Compost Ltd W0245 Yes No No Co. Waterford 20,000 Ormonde Organics W0287 Yes Yes No Co. Waterford 40,000 O'Toole Composting W0284-01 Yes No No Co. Carlow 40,000 Padraig Thornton Waste Disposal Limited t/a Thorntons Recycling W0195 Yes No No Co. Meath 40,000 Shane Thornton WFP-MH-14-0007-02 Yes No No Co. Meath 10,000 Sligo County Council – Young’s Quarry R1474 Yes No No Co. Sligo Note 1 Starrus Eco Holdings Ltd W0249 Yes No No Co. Tipperary 45,000 Waddock Composting Facility Ltd P1009 Yes No No Co. Carlow 24,900 Ballyshannon Recycling Ltd WFP-WX-15-0084-02 No Yes No Co. Wexford 10,000 BioCore Environmental AD1 Ltd WFP-RN-11-0002-02 No Yes No Co. Roscommon 10,000 Bio-Energy and Organic Fertiliser Services (BEOFS) WFP–KK–14–0010-02 No Yes No Co. Kilkenny 10,000 H&L Environmental Services Ltd WFP-T-12-0003-02 No Yes No Co. Tipperary 30,000 McDonnell Farms Biogas Ltd t/a GreenGas AD Plant WFP/L/2017/50/R4/T1 No Yes No Co. Limerick 10,000 McGill Environmental Systems (Ireland) Ltd (Glenville Facility) W0180 No No Yes Co. Cork 20,800 Miltown Composting Systems Ltd W0270-01 No No Yes Co. Tipperary 24,500 OD Agri Ltd t/a OD Recycling WFP-TS-10-0002-05 No No Yes Co. Tipperary 23,400 Table Notes: 1: No annual acceptance limit in authorisation but amount of compost held should not exceed 1,000m3 at any one time. Open in Excel: Infrastructure Table 5. Composting and anaerobic digestion capacity, by facility (XLS 13KB)