Household Waste Statistics for Ireland

Key trends

• 1.81 million t of household waste was managed in Ireland in 2021. This is an 3% decrease since 2020 (refer to the Figure 1 above). Managed waste is waste that is collected at kerbside from households or brought to waste 'bring centres' such as Civic Amenity Sites (CAS), recycling centres, bring banks and WEEE collection centres.   
• Most of the household waste managed in Ireland in 2021 was collected at kerbside (65%), with smaller quantities collected via CAS, skips, bring banks and pay to use facilities.
• The quantity of household waste managed in Ireland in 2021 equates to 361 kg per person, down from 372 kg/person in 2020 but up from 320 kg/person in 2019 and 314 kg/person in 2018.
  • There was a large increase in household waste generated in 2020 which was likely linked to a change in householders’ behaviour caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.  Public health guidelines requiring most of the population to remain at home for several months in 2020 is likely to have caused an increase in household waste generation. During this period many offices and businesses were closed so commercial waste quantities decreased as a result.
  • The continued high levels of household waste generated in 2021 were also likely due to householders behaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic. While restrictions for householders and businesses were gradually lifted in mid 2021, a lot of people continued to work from home and socialise at home throughout 2021.  
• Over a third (39%) of all waste collected from households was placed in the general waste (black) bin in 2021 (699,961t).  General waste accounted for 59% of all household waste collected in kerbside bins. General waste in Ireland is generally incinerated for energy recovery or landfilled. 
  • The latest EPA municipal waste characterisation study found that almost two thirds of waste placed in household general waste bins should be put in household recycling or organic waste bins or brought to bring centres. 
• Fifteen percent (15%) of household waste was collected in the recycling (green) bin in 2021 (263,939t). 
  • The latest EPA municipal waste characterisation study found that over a third of waste placed in household recycling bins was not recyclable and should be put in household recycling or organic waste bins or brought to bring centres.  
• Organic waste collected in the organic waste (brown) bin accounted for 12% of all household waste managed in 2021 (208,719t). The tonnage of organic waste decreased by 1% when compared to the 2020 tonnage (199,823 t) but increased of 31% when compared to the 2019 tonnage (159,385t). When properly segregated, this organic waste can be composted or anaerobically digested to make biogas.
  • However, the latest municipal waste characterisation study found that most household organic waste (about two thirds) continues to be placed in the general waste bin and is therefore not composted or anaerobically digested.
• An estimated further 25,700 t of household waste was unmanaged in 2021.  Unmanaged waste is waste that is not collected or brought to waste bring centres and is therefore likely to cause pollution in the environment because it is fly tipped or disposed of through backyard burning. 
  • The EPA bases its estimate of unmanaged household waste on the CSO Household Environmental Behaviours Survey¹(2021), which estimated that 2% of households do not dispose of their residual waste by any of the generally acceptable methods.  This is less than the 3% percent of households estimated in the 2016 CSO Household Environmental Behaviours Survey, indicating that more householders disposed of their waste by acceptable methods in Ireland in 2021 than in 2016.
• Trend analysis (refer to Figure 2) of the amount of waste collected by household bin type between 2015 and 2021 indicates that:  
  • The amount of household general waste (residual waste) collected decreased by 9% between 2015 and 2019.   However 2020, saw an increase in residual waste collected to above 2015 levels (722,911 t). In 2021, the amount of residual waste collected in 2021 decreased by 3% to 699,961 t when compared to the 2020 tonnage, however the 2021 tonnage was 10% greater than the 2019 tonnage (634,824 t). 
  • The amount of household waste collected in the recycling bin has increased by 5% between 2015 and 2020.  The tonnage of recycling waste collected in 2021 decreased by 1% when compared to the 2020 tonnage (267,590t) but the 2021 tonnage was 8% greater than the 2019 tonnage (243,548 t).
  • The most significant change has occurred in the tonnage of household organic waste collected at kerbside which has doubled in the last six years, from 102,003 t in 2015 and to 208,719 t in 2021. Organic waste represented 18% of all household waste collected at kerbside in 2021, up from 7% in 2015.

Additional Data

More data on the amount of waste collected from households within counties  and local authority areas are presented in Figure 3 below and Table 1 at the end of this page.

There are significant variations between counties across Ireland in the overall quantity of household waste collected per person, as well as differences in the amount of waste collected by bin type (see Figure 3 and Table 1). Variations are likely to be linked with differences in the waste collection services and infrastructure provided (e.g. prevalence of 2-bin versus 3-bin systems in rural versus urban areas), variations between counties in the share of the population using authorised waste collectors (as shown in Figure 3), and behavioural factors (such as bin sharing) and the use of using CAS and pay to use facilities.

The three counties with lowest percentage of household residual bin collection services are Co. Kerry (53%), Co. Roscommon (59%) and Co. Kilkenny (60%), while the counties/areas with the highest percentage of residual bin collection services are Galway City (97%), Fingal (89%), and South Dublin (88%)

The three counties with lowest percentage of household recycling bin collection services are Co. Kerry (53%), Co. Roscommon (57%) and Co. Kilkenny (60%), while the counties/areas with the highest percentage of recycling bin collection services are Galway City (97%), Fingal (89%) and South Dublin (87%). 

The three counties with lowest number of organic waste bin collection services are Co. Cavan (15%), Co. Westmeath (16%) and Co. Mayo (20%), while the areas with the highest number of organic waste bin collection services are Galway City (94%), Fingal (89%) and Limerick City and County (74%). 

Future focus

Our focus for the future needs to be on achieving a circular economy and waste prevention. 

Urgent action is needed to improve household waste segregation and divert more waste back into the circular economy reducing raw material and resource use.  Currently in our linear economy the majority of household waste is disposed in our general waste bins and is mostly incinerated for energy or landfilled.  The latest national municipal waste characterisation project found over two thirds of waste in household general waste bins could have been placed in the recycling and organic waste bins.    

Household waste generation in Ireland generally tends to be closely linked with lifestyle and consumption patterns as shown in Figure 4 below.  Consumption patterns have resumed their upward trend that dipped in 2020 due the Covid-19 pandemic. Reversing the upward trend in household waste generation will require the implementation of Ireland's Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy designed to significantly cut down on packaging waste and food waste in particular.  

Food waste accounts for 16% of all household waste so more needs to be done to prevent food waste through initiatives such as Stop Food Waste.  Two thirds of household food waste is still placed in the general waste bin rather than correctly segregated into the organic waste bin.  The brown bin roll out to households has increased the collection and composting rate of organic waste. However, only 69% of Irish householders who had a kerbside bin collection service in 2021 had a brown bin (percentage includes bin sharing).   The same level of waste collection service needs to be provided to all householders.  New EU waste legislation means that the separate collection of biowaste will be mandatory from the end of 2023. 

Packaging waste makes up about 27% of the waste in household bins and Ireland’s generation of packaging waste continues to rise. To tackle household waste generation, we need cut down on the amount of packaging placed on the market in the first place by innovating and moving to circular business models and ensure that any remaining packaging is designed either for reuse or is readily recyclable.  Recycling is also part of the solution to packaging waste. Two thirds of plastic waste is placed in the general waste bin rather than segregated into the recycling waste bin. 

More needs to be done to support and motivate Irish householders to segregate their waste, particularly food and plastic waste and use household bins and waste collection centres correctly through:

• providing organic waste bins to all households
• targeted awareness campaigns
• improved incentivised waste collection charging
• improved recycling infrastructure

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¹ _{CSO, Household Environmental Behaviours - Waste and Recycling Quarter 3 (2021)}