Ireland Recycles Record E-Waste in 2025
Irish consumers recycled a record 21.1 million electronic and electrical waste items in 2025, according to new data from WEEE Ireland. This was up from 18.8 million items in 2024 and amounted to nearly 39,000 tonnes of e-waste — equivalent to 7,425 truckloads. The breakdown included 18.5 million small appliances, 1.9 million lighting products, 278,222 TVs and monitors, and 123,060 fridge-freezers. Despite this record performance, Ireland still missed the EU’s 65% e-waste collection target.
A Flawed Measurement System
WEEE Ireland attributes the shortfall not to poor public participation, but to how collection rates are calculated. The current system measures collected waste against the volume of new electrical goods placed on the market over the previous three years — and in 2025, Irish producers placed 25kg of household electrical equipment per person into the market. This sales-based approach fails to account for products with long lifespans, such as solar PV systems and heat pumps, which may not enter the recycling stream for decades despite already counting toward today’s targets.
CEO Pushes for Modern Standards
CEO Leo Donovan said Ireland is recycling more than ever, with consumers making a genuine effort, but argued Europe’s measurement system was “designed for a very different market” and doesn’t reflect modern consumption patterns or emerging technologies. With the EU’s WEEE Directive currently under review, WEEE Ireland is advocating for a more modern, accurate approach to assessing national recycling performance.
Strong Results Across the Board
Beyond the headline figures, the report found that 84% of Irish counties increased their WEEE recycling rates year-on-year. On average, 82% of materials collected were recovered for reuse in manufacturing, surpassing the EU’s 80% recovery requirement. WEEE Ireland also collected 1,284 tonnes of portable waste batteries, meeting the EU’s 45% battery collection target. Lithium battery collection has more than doubled over the past five years, and over 1.4 million vape devices were recycled through the organisation’s national takeback scheme.
Looking Toward a Circular Economy
Donovan stressed that recovering critical raw materials — including lithium, copper, cobalt, and aluminium — is becoming increasingly vital as Europe works to strengthen resource security. He noted that circular economy performance is set to matter as much as raw collection volumes going forward. Consumers can recycle electrical items and batteries free of charge at civic amenity centres, participating retailers, and WEEE Ireland collection events.
www.circularonline.co.uk/news/ireland-records-highest-ever-e-waste-recycling-total-but-misses-eu-collection-target/