Municipal Waste Characterisation

In our everyday lives we produce a general mix of waste in our homes and commercial premises (e.g. offices, shops, cafes and schools). This type of waste is called 'municipal waste' and is usually collected at kerbside or we can bring it to ‘bring centres’ e.g. civic amenity sites, recycling centres, bring banks or WEEE collection points.

The composition of municipal waste varies over time in response to changes in consumption patterns, manufacturing and waste management practices. The EPA carries out regular characterisation studies of kerbside collected municipal waste to get up-to-date information on the composition of our household and commercial waste. Our most recent municipal waste characterisation study was carried out in 2022 and the key findings are summarised below. The detailed municipal waste characterisation methodology, results and recommendations are presented in the technical reports and models below.

The latest national municipal waste characterisation project found over two thirds of waste in the general household and commercial bins could have been placed in the recycling and organic waste bins. Food waste and plastics are the most common wastes in our bins.

Urgent action is needed to improve Ireland's waste segregation and recycling performance to achieve municipal waste recycling targets of 55% by 2025 (65% by 2035) and transition to a circular economy.

What is in our bins?

Household general waste bin

The five most common wastes in the household general waste bin are: food waste (17%), plastics (17%), nappies (10%), textiles excluding nappies (9%) and papers (8%)

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Household Waste Characterisation Booklet
Household Recycling bin

The five most common wastes in the household recycling bin are: papers (23%), cardboard (23%), plastics (21%), contamination on materials (10%) and metals (6%)

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Household Waste Characterisation Booklet
Household organic waste bin

The five most common wastes in the organic waste bin are: garden waste (64%), food waste (29%), plastics (4%) and other waste (3%)

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Household Waste Characterisation Booklet
Commercial general waste bin

The five most common wastes in the commercial general waste bin are: organic waste (31%) (includes 30% food waste), paper (20%), plastics (15%), textiles (7%) and cardboard (5%)

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Commercial Waste Characterisation Booklet
Commercial recycling bin

The five most common wastes in the commercial recycling bin are: papers (29%), plastics (21%), cardboard (20%), organic waste (9%) (comprising 9% food waste), contamination (9%)

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Commercial Waste Characterisation Booklet
Commercial organic waste bin

The five most common wastes in the commercial organic waste bin are: organic waste (92%) (comprising 91% food waste), compostable waste (2%), cardboard (2%), combustibles (2%), paper (1%)

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Commercial Waste Characterisation Booklet