Irish Regions Office Website

March 12, 2009

Municipal waste survey - mixed results for Ireland

According to a Eurostat survey published in March, only the Danes among all EU nationalities generated more municipal waste per person in 2007 than the Irish average of 786kg. This amount is a full 150% of the EU average of 522kg. By contrast the Czechs produced a mere 294kg each - largely reflecting enormous variations in household consumer behavior patterns between Western and Eastern Europe though these figures exclude agricultural and industrial waste. The Danish total is mitigated by a mere 5% reliance on landfill compared to other methods. This trait is shared with Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden in particular - all of which prioritise incineration. Ireland is one of 11 Member States which did not at the time employ incineration - though the only one in Western Europe.

This also indicates significant differences in methods of waste treatment with recycling rates varying from 46% in Germany to several countries which continue to rely entirely or almost exclusively on landfill. The figure here for Ireland is an encouraging 34%for recycling which ranks joint fourth overall and a mid-table 64% for landfill. Composting accounted for 2% of treatment in Ireland - a figure dwarfed by the 13 countries who exceed the 10% mark for this method with Austria reaching 38%.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PGP_PRD_CAT_PREREL/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2009/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2009_MONTH_03/8-09032009-EN-BP.PDF

Posted by iroronan at March 12, 2009 03:05 PM