EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 POLICY AREA CURRENT ASSESSMENT OUTLOOK NOTES Collection and recovery of electrical and electronic waste Compliant with current collection and recovery targets; however, significantly increased targets apply from 2019. Rates are gradually improving (EPA, 2020e); expected to achieve compliance with new targets by a close margin. Circular (secondary) material use rate Rates of circular (secondary) material use have remained consistently low in Ireland since 2010 at below 2% compared with an EU average of 11% in 2017 (EC, 2019b). Overall waste and circular economy assessment Overall current assessment is ‘poor’; while Ireland is meeting current targets, recycling rates for municipal waste and packaging have levelled off and in some cases declined and waste generation remains high and linked to economic activity, while circular use of material remains very low. Publication of new national waste policy is welcome. Achieving future EU targets and circular economy goals will be dependent on rigorous implementation of waste legislation, policy initiatives and measures. CURRENT ASSESSMENT: Summary assessment of current environmental performance, policy and implementation in Ireland Very poor/significant environmental and/or compliance challenges to address Poor/environmental and/or compliance challenges to address Moderate/on track generally/local or occasional challenges Good/mainly achieving objectives Very good/fully achieving objectives OUTLOOK: Current prospect of meeting policy objectives and/or targets Largely not on track to meet policy objectives and targets. Significant challenges remain to achieving full compliance. Systemic and transformative change needed. Partially on track to achieving full compliance or measures in place or planned that will improve the situation. However, the outlook is dependent on existing and planned actions, measures and plans being fully implemented and effective. Largely on track to achieving full compliance. Measures in place provide prospect of meeting policy objectives and targets. 414