Compost waste is the treatment of organic waste material such as domestic food waste from the brown bin through aerobic composting at a waste facility.
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the conversion of organic waste such as food processing waste and livestock slurry by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen into biogas and liquid digestate.
Table 1. Compost and Anaerobic Digestion
| Year | Municipal bio-waste (kitchen and canteen food waste, garden and park green waste, edible oils and fats) accepted for composting/anaerobic digestion in Ireland (tonnes) | total tonnage collected for compost in Ireland* | wet tonnage collected for compost in Ireland | tonnage collected for compost in Ireland - EU submission** | total tonnage collected for anaerobic digestion in Ireland* | wet tonnage collected for anaerobic digestion in Ireland | tonnage collected for anaerobic digestion in Ireland - EU submission** | Total tonnage compost + anaerobic digestion in Ireland* | Total wet tonnage compost + anaerobic digestion in Ireland | tonnage compost + anaerobic digestion in Ireland - EU submission** |
| 2005 | 48,000 | |||||||||
| 2006 | 55,000 | |||||||||
| 2007 | 79,000 | |||||||||
| 2008 | 107,000 | |||||||||
| 2009 | 88,000 | |||||||||
| 2010 | 107,000 | |||||||||
| 2011 | 157,000 | |||||||||
| 2012 | 156,000 | |||||||||
| 2013 | 158,000 | |||||||||
| 2014 | 180,000 | |||||||||
| 2015 | 194,000 | |||||||||
| 2016 | 231,000 | |||||||||
| 2017 | 246,000 | 280,927 | 120,397 | 401,324 | ||||||
| 2018 | 257,000 | 267,205 | 178,136 | 445,341 | ||||||
| 2019 | 295,000 | 290,445 | 237,637 | 528,082 | ||||||
| 2020 | 302,000 | 288,695 | 308,496 | 597,191 | ||||||
| 2021 | 332,000 | 292,378 | 303,176 | 595,554 | ||||||
| 2022 | 334,000 | 306,801 | 251,805 | 428,703 | 257,767 | 735,504 | 509,572 | |||
| *Tonnages collected for compost and anaerobic digestion prior to 2022 are currently being validated by the CEWS team and are subject to change | ||||||||||
| **EU Waste Statistic Regulations require sludges to be reported as dry tonnages, while all other waste types are reported as wet tonnages | ||||||||||
Open in Excel: Compost and Anaerobic Digestion Data Archive Summary Excel (XLS 10KB)
Open in CSV : Compost and Anaerobic Digestion Data Archive Summary CSV (CSV 1KB)For more information see: Composting & Anaerobic | Environmental Protection Agency (epa.ie)