This page contains EPA waste data for Ireland’s single-use plastics waste in 2024. These data are reported to the European Environmental Agency (EEA) annually as required under the Single-Use Plastics Directive 2019/904 and are subject to further validation.
What are single use plastics?
Single-use plastics (SUPs) are plastic products that are used once, or for a short period of time, before being disposed of. Monitoring across the EU has revealed that 10 single-use plastic items, including fishing gear, make up 70% of all marine litter on European beaches.
Single-use plastics Directive
The Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) was adopted by the EU in 2019 and introduces a range of measures, controls, and targets to deal with these plastic products, including:
- Market restrictions: The following single use plastic products can no longer be placed on the market in Ireland: Cotton bud sticks, Cutlery, Plates, Stirrers, Balloon sticks, Straws, Expanded polystyrene single use food and beverage containers and all oxo-degradable plastic products.
- Consumption reduction: Measures will be introduced to support consumption reduction for beverage cups and food containers by 2026.
- Extended producer responsibility: Producers of tobacco products containing plastic cannot place these products on the market in Ireland unless they are a member of an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme. The same applies to producers of balloons and wet wipes from 31st December 2024.
- Separate collection: A Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) has been set up to help achieve the separate collection target for beverage bottles with a capacity of up to 3 litres.
- Design obligations: By 2024 all beverage containers up to 3 litres in size must have its cap or lid attached to main part of the container. By 2025 PET bottles must contain at least 25% recycled content. By 2030 Beverage bottles must contain at least 30% recycled content.
- Labelling obligations: From 2021, producers of wet wipes, tobacco products containing plastic, sanitary items and beverage cups must ensure there is a marking on the packaging or product which signifies there is plastic in the product.
2024 data highlights
- Approximately 13,000 tonnes of cups for beverages* containing plastic were placed on the market. This includes ~2,000 tonnes of cups fully made of plastic and ~11,000 tonnes of composite cups (partly made of plastic).
- Approximately 8,000 tonnes of SUP food containers were placed on the market. This is split between ~3,500 tonnes of containers fully made of plastic and ~4,500 tonnes of composite containers.
- Regarding SUP beverage bottles, ~30,000 tonnes were placed on the market. ~23,000 tonnes of these were PET bottles and ~7,000 tonnes were non-PET bottles.
- The PET bottles placed on the market contained 48% of recycled plastic.
- ~11,000 tonnes of SUP beverage bottles have been collected separately under the Re-turn Deposit Return Scheme and ~5,500 tonnes have been collected together with other waste for recycling (Mixed Dry Recyclables bins).
- We estimate that ~1,000 tonnes of fishing gear containing plastic were placed on the market and ~500 tonnes of waste fishing gear containing plastic were collected.
- ~300 tonnes of tobacco products with filters and filters marketed for use in combination with tobacco products were collected as litter and through public waste collection systems
*including covers and lids