Ireland risks missing key EU targets because the country is generating “significantly” more rubbish and recycling less and less of it, according to a new Environmental Protection Agency report.
It says 3.1 million tonnes of municipal waste was created in 2019 – a 6% rise, making Ireland’s rubbish pile the biggest it has been since 2009.
But recycling rates have fallen by a tenth since 2016, with plastic recycling lagging well behind the EU average.
69 per cent of plastic waste was burnt that year, and Tara Higgins, senior scientist with the EPA, says that could have been avoided:
