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Environmental information systems
The indicator shows the total generated amount of all types of waste from all economic sectors and households, and compares it with economic development measured as gross domestic product (GDP).
While the graph shows a generally stable trend in total waste generation (kg/capita), overall total waste generation increased in Ireland from 12.7 Mt in 2012 to 15.3 Mt in 2022.
Construction waste constitutes approximately two thirds of total waste generation, with significant growth since 2012. A decrease in this tonnage was recorded between 2021 and 2022, likely due to the type of developments and the scale of excavations in major projects, while the increased use of Ireland’s Regulation 27 (on by-products) in preventing waste is also a factor.
Ireland has increasingly used national end-of-waste and the aforementioned by-product decisions to encourage circularity, particularly in the construction sector. These decisions provide a clear framework for the sector to prevent waste generation, enable safe reuse, enhance recycling and support greener purchasing of materials.
Ireland’s national waste infrastructure has ongoing capacity challenges and faces significant risks. Currently, there is significant dependence on other countries for the handling of recycling materials, municipal waste and hazardous waste.
References and footnotes
- ↵Eurostat, ‘Generation of waste by waste category, hazardousness and NACE Rev. 2 activity’ env_wasgen, 20 September 2024, accessed 20 June 2025, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasgen__custom_16786326/default/table?lang=en.
- ↵EPA, Circular Economy and Waste Statistics – Highlight report 2022, Wexford, 2024, https://www.epa.ie/publications/monitoring--assessment/waste/national-waste-statistics/circular-economy-and-waste-statistics-highlights-report-2022.php#:~:text=Summary%3A%20This%20report%20gives%20the,consumption%20and%20circularity%20are%20provided.
- ↵EPA national by-product and end-of-waste decisions from 2023 and 2024: EPA, ‘National by-product criteria of the 3rd October 2023 stablishing detailed criteria on the application of the conditions of Regulation 27(1)(a)–(d) when making the decision that site-won asphalt can be regarded as a by-product under Regulation 27 of the European Union (Waste Directive) Regulations 2011–2020’, BP-N001/2023, 3 October 2023, https://www.epa.ie/publications/licensing--permitting/waste/National-By-Product-Criteria-Ref.-No.-BP-N0012023.pdf; EPA, ‘National by-product criteria of the 2nd of July 2024 establishing detailed criteria on the application of the conditions of Regulation 27(1)(a)–(d) when making the decision that greenfield soil and stone can be regarded as a by-product under Regulation 27 of the European Union (Waste Directive) Regulations 2011–2020’, BP-N002/2024, 2 July 2024, https://www.epa.ie/publications/licensing--permitting/waste/National-By-Product-greenfield-stone--Criteria-Ref.-No.-BP-N002.2024.pdf; EPA, ‘National end-of-waste decision EoW-N001/2023 of 12th September 2023 establishing criteria determining when recycled aggregate ceases to be waste under Regulation 28 of the European Union (Waste Directive) Regulations 2011–2020’, EoW-N001/2023, 12 September 2023, https://www.epa.ie/publications/licensing--permitting/waste/Final-Decision---National-End-of-Waste-Criteria-N001-2023.pdf.
- a bEPA, ‘Chapter 15 – Circular economy and waste’, in: Ireland’s State of the Environment Report 2024, Wexford, 2024, pp. 403–436, https://www.epa.ie/our-services/monitoring--assessment/assessment/state-of-environment-report-/.