'25 National Recycling Bin Survey

Plastic pollution is no longer just a waste issue: it’s a planetary crisis.

Plastics are present in every environment and in our bodies, with microplastics found in humans, animals, oceans, soil, and even the air we breathe. Some scientists, artists, and activists have gone so far as to name it the “Plasticocene”, a new geological epoch defined by plastic’s lasting imprint.

Globally, plastic production emits over 50 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually. Half of all that plastic is designed to be single-use, often discarded after just 12 minutes.

In this global crisis, Ireland is no different.

In fact we are the number one producer of plastic packaging waste per capita in the EU, with 67 kilograms in 2023, which is a 50% increase since 2013.

In the past 10 years we have become completely reliant on single use packaging, mainly made of plastic, a consumption model that cannot be made sustainable.

Moreover, Ireland’s current recycling rate for plastic packaging of 32% is falling short of our EU targets of 50% by 2025.

In contrast, it is now believed that plastics will never fully decompose into the environment but instead continue to break down into smaller pieces, from microplastics to particles known as nanoplastics.

In order to tackle this crisis we need to work backwards and look at the sources of waste.

The National Recycling Bin Survey is the first in Ireland to analyse household recycling waste and attribute such waste to specific retail sectors.

The results of the Survey included 129 people in 50 households across 14 counties. Participants audited a total of 9,407 waste items, producing several key findings.

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