International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

19.6.2 Environmental Benefits - Associated with Recycling
Waste management infrastructure for WEEE in Ireland is developing rapidly. There are
now six facilities in Ireland that recover WEEE by dismantling it into the material
components and processing it into reusable raw materials. As mentioned in Section
19.5.1, in 2007 WEEE Ireland collected almost 9kg per person of electronic waste
which greatly exceeded the 2008 target of 4kg per inhabitant set for Ireland by the
EU. However, the current level may be somewhat below what is now proposed by the
European Commission.
Household WEEE taken back to retailers or deposited at civic amenity sites is
collected for processing by one of WEEE Ireland’s contracted partners. The five
families of WEEE are treated differently; the dedicated treatment processes ensure
maximum recycling rates can be achieved for the various materials contained in
WEEE.
As shown in Table 19-1 considerable quantities of WEEE are recycled in Ireland. The
EPA considers that producers and their compliance schemes should strive to ensure
that this remains the case. 415
Table 19-1: Recycling Rates of WEEE Families 2007
EU Target 31 st
Dec 2008
WEEE Ireland
Recovery Rate
Recovered &
Recycled
370
29/09/09
Tonnes
Fridge
Freezers
LHA
Mixed
WEEE
CRT Lamps
80.00% 80.00% 70.00% 75.00% n/a
86.73% 68.23% 81.07% 96.71% 93.10%
Ferrous Metal 14,302 66.66% 60.95% 42.43% 4.02% 0.00%
Non Ferrous
Metal
2,146 4.53% 5.16% 11.55% 13.05% 3.10%
Plastic 3,302 15.08% 2.12% 27.07% 15.60% 0.00%
Glass 2,990 0.46% 0.00% 0.02% 64.04% 90.00%
Total 22,740 86.73% 68.23% 81.07% 96.71% 93.10%
Treatments &
Landfill
Waste 5,909 11.69% 31.75% 18.85% 3.28% 6.00%
Hazardous Waste 95 1.58% 0.02% 0.08% 0.01% 0.90%
Total 6,004 13.27% 31.77% 18.93% 3.29% 6.90%
Source: WEEE Ireland, Annual Report 2007
415 EPA, National Waste Report, 2007.