EPA waste data release, 15/08/2025. Latest reference year 2023 (data subject to Eurostat validation)
- The 2023 packaging waste recycling rate is 59%. Ireland is at risk of not meeting the recycling rate target of 65% by 2025.
- Since 2016, packaging waste generation has increased almost 4 times faster than packaging waste recycling has increased. Recycling cannot keep up with the packaging waste generation.
- Better segregation by households and businesses of materials into the correct waste bin is needed to capture clean packaging wastes.
- Further incentivisation is needed to ensure materials are recycled rather than recovered to drive recycling rates towards statutory targets.
- Ireland’s Plastic Own Resource contribution, a cost for non-recycled plastic packaging, for 2023 is approximately €200 million.
Packaging comes with the products we buy for our homes and businesses. It protects them during transport, keeps them fresh and provides product information. Once the products are unpacked, the packaging become waste.
In 2023, Ireland generated nearly 1.2 million tonnes of packaging waste. The largest component of packaging waste is paper & cardboard followed by plastic, glass, wood, metal, see figure 1.
Table 1: Waste packaging generation and treatment 2023
| Material | Packaging waste generated | Recycling in Ireland | Recycling in Other EU Member States | Recycling Outside the EU | Total recycling | Total recycling Rate | Total Energy Recovery | Total Energy and Other Recovery Rate | Packaging waste Total Recovery (incl recycling) | ||
| Plastic | 353,388 | 15,667 | 31,334 | 57,445 | 104,446 | 30% | 247,568 | 70% | 100% | ||
| Wood (excl. wood repair)* | 95,435 | 47,727 | 0 | 0 | 47,727 | 50% | 46,683 | 49% | 99% | ||
| Metals | Ferrous Metal | 39,330 | 7,819 | 521 | 17,724 | 26,065 | 66% | 66% | |||
| Aluminium Metal | 33,404 | 3,097 | 1,751 | 8,619 | 13,467 | 40% | 1,091 | 44% | |||
| Glass | 169,713 | 141,342 | 0 | 0 | 141,342 | 83% | 0 | 83% | |||
| Paper & Cardboard | 483,351 | 0 | 18,291 | 347,531 | 365,822 | 76% | 113,081 | 23% | 99% | ||
| Other (textiles) | 10,574 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 5,377 | 51% | 51% | ||
| Total | 1,185,195 | 215,653 | 51,897 | 431,319 | 698,869 | 59.0% | 413,799 | 35% | 94% | ||
| *Total incl. wood repair | 1,246,766 | 760,440 | 61.0% | ||||||||
| Data table for 2023 reference year as submitted to the European Commission. | |||||||||||
| Data in tonnes unless otherwise specified. | |||||||||||
| Ferrous and Aluminium metals recycled after their seperation from incinerator bottom ash are included in the ferrous and aluminium metal rows | |||||||||||
| *The EU reporting format requires that wooden packaging repaired for reuse (61,571 tonnes) is reported separately, however this can be included in the calculation of Ireland's recycling rate. | |||||||||||
Open in Excel: 2023 Packaging waste data table 1 (XLS 14KB)
Open in CSV : 2023 Packaging waste data table 1 (CSV 1KB)There are individual recycling targets for each material stream. In 2023, Ireland achieved the current recycling targets for paper & cardboard, plastic, glass, wood and metal. See green dot in Figure 2.
Ireland is already achieving the 2030 and the 2025 target for glass and wood; the blue dot represents the 2030 target, and the orange dot represents the targets for 2025.
Recycling targets for 2025 separated out reporting for metals into metal types (ferrous and aluminium). Ireland had been achieving the 2025 target for ferrous metal, but this year (2023) the recycling rate has dropped below the target. In contrast, the aluminium rate increased and has gotten closer to the 2025 target. The total metal packaging waste figure is similar to last year, but the breakdown of the waste profile has changed. Less ferrous and more aluminium were finally treated and transferred at waste facilities in 2023.
The 2025 target for plastic is looking increasingly unlikely to be achieved. The deposit return scheme that began operation in 2024 is not part of these figures but should positively impact both plastic and aluminium recycling rates in 2024 data reports onwards.
The overall packaging recycling rate in 2023 is 59% and the 2025 target is 65%. Due to the stagnation of the overall recycling rate trend, it will be very challenging for Ireland to meet the target of 65%. The 2030 targets will be challenging for all material streams except wood and glass.
Packaging waste is on an increasing trend of almost 20% based on the base year of 2016. Packaging recycling has also increased, but at 5% on the base year of 2016, recycling is increasing almost four times slower than packaging waste generation, resulting in decreasing recycling rates. Figure 3 illustrates this growing separation.
The gap between packaging waste generation and recycling has been growing over the years. In 2022 there was a positive change as there has been a decrease in packaging waste generation and an increase in packaging waste recycling. In 2023 a small increase of approximately 3,000t in the difference between packaging waste generated and recycled was recorded. The difference between packaging waste generated and recycled needs to see a decrease year on year for Ireland to meet its packaging waste recycling targets. Figure 4 illustrates the difference in tonnes of packaging waste generated and recycled and the trendline illustrates the increase in this difference since 2016.
Ireland needs to improve upon its packaging waste recycling and to decrease its packaging waste generation as packaging waste recycling is not keeping pace with waste generation.
The packaging waste recycling target for 2025 is 65%. In 2016 our packaging waste recycling rate was 67%. Since then, our recycling rate has decreased to 59% in 2023. The increase in waste generation is the driving force behind the recycling rate decrease. The waste framework directive’s waste hierarchy states that preventing waste generation is the preferred option when dealing with waste. Ireland needs big improvement in packaging waste prevention. We need to tackle waste generation so that we can
Link to waste framework directive: Waste Framework Directive - European Commission
Plastic own resource is an EU financial contribution based on the non-recycled plastic packaging waste. The plastics own resource, in place since 1 January 2021, consists of a national contribution based on the amount of non-recycled plastic packaging waste. A uniform rate of €0.80 per kilogram will be applied to the weight of plastic packaging waste that is not recycled.
In 2023 the total plastic packaging waste not recycled was 250,000 tonnes which equates to a national contribution amount of approximately €200,000,000.
Ireland’s recycling rate for plastic packaging waste is 30% in 2023. This means that Ireland’s plastic own resource contribution is derived from the 70% of plastic packaging waste that is not recycled.
Link to European commission website with further information on plastics own resource Plastics own resource - European Commission
The plastic packaging recycling rate has fallen from 32% to 30% between 2022 and 2023. The plastic packaging rate of incineration with energy recovery has jumped from 64% to 70% between 2022 and 2023.
In 2023, Ireland recycled nearly 700,000t of packaging waste.
The recycling rate, the dark blue line in figure 7, had been on a decreasing trend since before 2016. In 2023, the recycling rate decreased to 59%. Ireland needs considerable improvement in the coming years in order to meet our EU recycling targets for packaging waste. The EU target is 65% recycling rate by 2025 and 70% recycling rate by 2030.
Figure 7 illustrates the packaging waste recycling rate and recovery rate since 2016. The recycling rate tends to decrease while the recovery rate tends to increase. The tonnes sent for recovery increased by over 23,000t and the tonnes sent for recycling decreased by over 25,000t between 2023 and 2022. This trend needs to be reversed for Ireland to meet its EU recycling targets.
According to data compiled by Repak, over 14,000 tonnes of reusable packaging were placed on the Irish market in 2023. This represented less than 2% of all packaging placed on the market in 2023. This means that the remaining 98% of packaging waste consisted of single-use packaging. Examples of reusable packaging include wooden pallets, kegs, IBCs, trays, plastic boxed trays and buckets.
On the basis of multiple rotations of use, approximately 131,000 tonnes of single-use packaging waste were avoided via repeat use of over 14,000 tonnes of reusable packaging in Ireland in 2023.
According to Repak data, ferrous metal is the material stream with the highest level of reuse in Ireland, followed by wood and then plastic.
The new European Regulation on packaging and packaging waste entered into force on the 12th February 2025. Some highlights from the packaging and packaging waste regulation are:
Link to the packaging and packaging waste regulation: Packaging and packaging waste regulation
Ireland’s Waste Action Plan for Circular Economy and Circular Economy Act 2022 also contains measures to achieve reductions in waste generation and to improve Ireland’s packaging recycling rates. However, these need swift to implementation to assist us in reaching 2025 recycling targets. These include
Ireland’s packaging waste generation and treatment figures are compiled by EPA using data obtained from waste operators (collectors and facilities), local authorities and waste brokers and from Repak annually. Relevant characterisation factors are applied to the data for mixed waste streams to estimate the proportion of packaging based on the EPA’s most recent waste characterisation studies.
The data are cross-checked against data held by the National Waste Collection Permit Office and data reported to Repak, while exports are cross-checked against data from the National Transfrontier Shipment Office. Estimates for unmanaged waste are based on CSO data from the National Household Survey.
As part of annual reporting under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, the EPA submits packaging waste statistics for Ireland to the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications for transmission to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
The data are required to be submitted by 30th June of the reference year +18 months (i.e. 2023 data were collected and processed in 2024 and submitted in June, 2025). Following validation by Eurostat, official statistics for Ireland and all Members are published on the Eurostat website as part of the following datasets:
To see data from previous years see: Packaging Data Archive | Environmental Protection Agency (epa.ie)