Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

405 Chapter 15: Circular Economy and Waste Figure 15.2  OECD review of Ireland’s environmental performance, 2021 ˜ Modified GNI ˜ NH 3 ˜ GHG ˜ NO x 2005 = 100 2005 = 100 ˜ Modified GNI ˜ Municipal waste generation ˜ Nitrogen balance ˜ DMC 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 35 45 55 65 75 85 95 105 115 125 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 Year Year Note: Modified GNI: Gross national income in constant prices, excluding highly mobile economic activities that affect the measurement of the Irish economy. GHG: greenhouse gas emissions, without land use, land use change and forestry. Nitrogen balance: calculated as the difference between the nutrient inputs and the nutrient outputs. NO x : Nitrogen oxides. DMC: domestic material consumption, the sum of domestic extraction of raw materials used by an economy and their physical trade balance. Source: OECD, 2021. © OECD 4 www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-plfp/populationandlabourforceprojections2017-2051/populationprojectionsresults/ (accessed 24 June 2024). Waste generation in Ireland continues to follow our economic patterns as we continue to fail to break the link between, or decouple, waste generation and economic growth. The European Environment Agency (EEA) states that the only true way to decouple waste generation is through waste prevention (EEA, 2021). The EEA proposes new indicators to improve the effectiveness of monitoring waste prevention across Europe (EEA, 2023). These include a refocus on more quantitative measures to track and monitor waste prevention. Population growth Waste generation in Ireland is linked to population growth through material consumption (Topic Box 15.1). Population growth is one of the main drivers of waste generation (EPA, 2022). Ireland’s population increased by 8% between 2016 and 2022. For the first time in 171 years, Ireland’s population exceeded 5 million, with 5,149,139 people usually resident in Ireland in 2022. Ireland’s population is forecast to rise substantially, to 6.7 million, by 2051 (CSO, 2021). 4