WEEE statistics for Ireland

Figure 1 Breakdown of WEEE collected by category in Ireland in 2023

• Figure 1 shows a breakdown of WEEE collected by category in 2023. Large Equipment (e.g. cookers, washing machines) accounted for (by weight) and small equipment (e.g. kettles, toasters) represented the next largest category accounting for 19.1% of WEEE collected.
• The consumption of electronic goods has been on the rise and trends are generally linked to economic wealth which has been reflected in the WEEE data for Ireland between 2008-2023 (Figure 2). The economic recession from 2008 - 2011 led to a decrease in the quantity of WEEE collected and recovered as Irish householders and business did not replace electrical and electronic equipment as frequently as before. The growth in the Irish economy in more recent years has led to large rises in WEEE collected and recovered, which peaked in 2021 when over 71,000 tonnes were collected. Despite a significant reduction in the overall consumption of goods and services in the Irish economy during the Covid-19 pandemic[1] , the demand for electronic products has continued, reflecting the transition to remote working and the ongoing digitalisation of society.

   

  [1] What we Consumed - CSO - Central Statistics Office

 Figure 2 WEEE Collected and recovered 2008-2023 compared with personal consumption of goods and services

• In 2023, the WEEE collection rate dropped to 43.6% from 51.2% in 2022 and 63.8% in 2021. Since 2018, the EU has set a target collection rate of 65% and Ireland has yet to achieve this target (Fig 3).

• The declining collection rate in 2023 can be attributed to both:
  • a stagnation in the WEEE collected between 2022 and 2023 and a return to lower pre-covid tonnages and;
  • an increase in EEE placed on the market reflecting economic and population growth [1],[2], an increase in ICT sales due to the transition to digitalisation and the increasing demand for decarbonising technologies (e.g. solar panels[3], heat pumps[4]).

Figure 3 Total EEE Placed on Market and WEEE Collected and compared with Collection Rate 2010 – 2023 (Placed on Market data for 2023 TBC)

Future Focus

The recycling of WEEE protects both human health and the environment. WEEE contains hazardous materials which can cause serious damage if not disposed of correctly. Many devices also contain rare and valuable components that can be recycled and reused in new products reducing the extraction of raw materials which has harmful environmental and social effects. Improving the collection, treatment, and recycling of WEEE enhances resource efficiency and supports the transition to a circular economy.

Despite the general improvements in the collection of WEEE in Ireland, there is evidence from the EPA’s 2022 Waste Characterisation Reports that substantial amounts are still present in household and commercial bins. These accounted for 0.8% of waste in household residual bins (6,179t) and 0.4% of waste in household recycling bins (1,115t). A further 1,860t were found in commercial bins. These items should never go in the bin as they are hazardous.

It's free to bring electrical items and waste batteries to recycling centres and participating retailers. Raising awareness and ensuring that WEEE is separately collected through available channels will help to further improve Ireland’s collection rate. This allows for the maximum extraction of valuable and scarce materials and ensure that hazardous materials are treated correctly.

Ireland, along with the majority of other EU Member States, has yet to achieve the new EU WEEE collection target of 65%. While it is important that we continue to increase our efforts to separately collect WEEE, it has been questioned whether the current collection rate calculation method is fit for purpose[1],[2]. The current methodology which is based on the average EEE placed-on-market in the three preceding years does not take account of the full lifecycle of electrical and electronic equipment e.g. washing machines and refrigerators which have a lifespan of 10-15 years. The collection rate has also been critiqued as being ill-suited for measuring circularity as extending the lifespan of an electronic product through reuse or repair is not captured in the metric[3].

Transitioning to a circular economy requires breaking the link between economic activity and resource consumption. Improvements in design to extend product lifetimes and to allow for repair, refurbishment and reuse are needed to ensure that electrical products remain in circulation for longer and can be fully recycled at the end of their life.

Reporting Notes

The EU WEEE Directive (2012/19/EC) aims to ensure that WEEE is collected and managed in an environmentally friendly way. It sets an overall WEEE collection target of 65% (which is based on quantity of WEEE collected relative to the average weight of EEE placed on the market in the three preceding years) and also sets individual targets for the recycling, reuse and recovery of six different categories of WEEE (detailed in Table 1):

1. Temperature exchange equipment (e.g. fridges, freezers)
2. Screens, monitors, and equipment containing screens having a surface greater than 100 cm², (e.g. televisions, monitors)
3. Lamps (e.g. fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lamps)
4. Large equipment (any external dimension more than 50 cm) (e.g. washing machines, ovens)
5. Small equipment (no external dimension more than 50 cm) (e.g. kettles, toasters)
6. Small IT and telecommunication equipment (no external dimension more than 50 cm) (e.g. desktop computers, printers).

The WEEE Directive is a Producer Responsibility Initiative (PRI) Directive, where the producers of EEE have responsibility for the environmentally sound management of products at their end of life. Most collection and treatment of WEEE in Ireland is organised and financed by the two approved producer compliance schemes, WEEE Ireland (www.weeeireland.ie) and European Recycling Platform Ireland (www.erp-recycling.ie). These schemes cover private household WEEE (B2C WEEE). Industry is directly responsible for management of non-private household WEEE in Ireland (B2B WEEE).

Data compilation / methodology

The EPA uses data from a number of sources to compile the WEEE collection and treatment statistics for Ireland. The three main data sources are: (1) data from authorised Irish waste treatment facilities, reported by facilities to the EPA and the National Waste Collection Permit Office; (2) datasets compiled by the ‘WEEE from private households’ (B2C) producer compliance schemes; and (3) Waste Management Reports submitted by ‘WEEE from other than private households’ (B2B) producers to the EPA. Data gaps are identified and filled by cross-checking the data with waste collection records held by the National Waste Collection Permit Office and with waste export/import data held by National TransFrontier Shipment Office. The WEEE collection target is calculated using data on EEE placed on the Irish market supplied by the Producer Register Limited, Ireland’s national register of EEE.

European reporting

As part of annual reporting under the EU WEEE Directive, the EPA compiles statistics on WEEE collection and treatment in Ireland. The data are required to be submitted to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, by 30th June of the reference year +2 (i.e. 2023 data was collected and processed in 202 and is reported in 2025). Following validation of the data by Eurostat, official statistics for all Member States are published on the Eurostat website as part of the following dataset:

• • •  Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) by waste management operations [env_waselee] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ENV_WASELEE/default/table?lang=en&category=env.env_was.env_wasst

References:

1. What we Consumed - CSO - Central Statistics Office
2. https://www.housingagency.ie/data-hub/new-dwelling-completions
3. https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/pieu50/irelandandtheeuat50/society/population/
4. https://planningpermissionireland.ie/blog/2024/06/24/surge-in-solar-panel-installations-in-ireland-65-homes-equipped-daily/
5. https://irishheatpumps.com/irish-heat-pump-installation-statistics/#:~:text=The%20Irish%20Government%20has%20committed,pump%20retrofit%20rates%20since%202019.
6. pdf (europa.eu)
7. Waste from electrical and electronic equipment – evaluating the EU rules (europa.eu)
8. https://weee-forum.org/ws_news/eu-waste-rules-are-in-need-of-a-radical-rethink/

To see data from previous years see: WEEE Data Archive | Environmental Protection Agency (epa.ie)