How Much Waste Does Ireland Produce?

Croke Park as a rubbish dump

Ireland, per head of population, is among the highest waste producers in Europe. Our waste every year would fill Croke Park to the top of the stands. It is estimated that 2,823,242 t of municipal waste was generated in 2011 and household waste disposed to landfill was 750,066 t (EPA, 2013).

A framework to deal with the litter problem in Ireland is provided by the Litter Pollution Acts 1997 to 2009. The Litter Action Plan was produced following the National Anti-Litter Forum report produced in 2000.  In May 2010, the 2009 National Litter Pollution Monitoring System report was published by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. It revealed that pedestrians caused the highest level of litter pollution at 38.3% and passing motorists were the next highest offenders of litter pollution nationally at 18.3%.

Unfortunately, illegal dumping is very common in Ireland. It is unnecessary and causes a lot of concern for our countryside and all the wildlife that inhabits it. In order to combat illegal dumping in the upland Dublin/Wicklow areas, the Protecting Uplands and Rural Environments (PURE) Project was initiated in 2006. Each month, the PURE Project collects 30 tonnes of illegally dumped waste in these areas.

Table showing selected indicators relative to most recent (2010) data.

Waste Indicators and Sources 2012 (relative to 2010 data).
Ireland's Enivronment 2012 (EPA, 2012).

With so much waste around it is little wonder that there is increasing pressure on landfill sites and other waste infrastructure.The capacity of these dumps has improved since 2001, largely due to the licensing of additional and extended landfill facilities. A number of regions continue to have very limited landfill capacity remaining. More information on these and other aspects of Irish waste can be found in the EPA's National Waste Report 2011 (published in 2013).