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20 Years of State of the Environment Reporting 1996-2016
Population
1996
2016
3.64 M 4.71 M
Municipal
waste
generation
1996
2016
1.85 Mt 2.73 Mt
Household
waste
generation
1996
2016
0.98 Mt 1.52 Mt
Operational
landfills
1996 2016
125 6
Bathing water
standards
compliance
1996 2016
100% 93%
NOx emissions
1996
2016
133,000 t 75,000 t
Natural Heritage Areas
(designated & proposed)
1996
2016
1,250 1,351
Greenhouse gas
emissions
1996
2016
62.3 Mt 58.3 Mt
Cattle numbers
1996 2016
7.4 M 6.4 M
Discharges of untreated
sewage(sites)
1996 2016
95
43
SO
2
emissions
1996
2016
150,000 t 25,000 t
Household
waste per person
1996
2016
270 kg 331 kg
National rivers
with “high status”
1996
2015
25.5%
17.6%
Highest quality
river sites
1996
2015
4.8%
0.7%
Serious pollution
of rivers
1996 2016
77 km 6 km
Municipal
waste recovery
rate
1996 2016
7.4% c.80%
Household waste
recovery rate
1996 2016
1.4% c75 %
Hazardous waste
generation
1996
2016
244,000 t 305,000 t
Car
ownership
1996
2016
1,060,000 2,000,000
Total waste
generation
1996
2016
10.5 Mt 11.9 Mt
7
Foreword
Directive and the Habitats Directive. Ireland also faces open
EU complaints or infringement proceedings in relation to
drinking water and urban waste water treatment.
This is not about the EU imposing unnecessary or
unreasonable demands on Ireland – it is about making sure
as a minimum, for example, that the water we drink or
swim in will not make us sick.
These are all areas where significant investment is
needed to bring Ireland into compliance. Meanwhile, the
‘environment’ has to compete with many other policy
areas such as health, education and policing for scarce
resources. This is one of the reasons why it is so important
that environmental considerations are fully factored
into other policy areas as a clean and well protected
environment helps support public health, food production,
industrial development, tourism and gives an overall sense
of civic pride about where we live, work and play.
This report and its many online supporting materials,
provides the public, policymakers, non-governmental
organisations, community groups, companies, teachers
and students with the evidence base about Ireland’s
natural environment to help them make informed
decisions about what they can do to help both protect and
improve our natural environment. The underlying data is
available online and we will be keeping this information up
to date on the Ireland’s Environment website. I hope that
you find the report useful and informative and that it can
help you play your part in protecting our environment.
Laura Burke
Director General