Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

451 Chapter 16: Environmental Policy Implementation and Performance As noted earlier in this chapter, compliance issues are prevalent in the waste sector, with both the EPA and local authorities dealing with a high number of complaints and enforcement actions at waste sites. Ireland also has a poor track record of effectively implementing EU waste legislation, as evidenced by the high number of closed infringements shown in Table 16.1. In its report The Circular Economy in Ireland , the OECD identifies three main governance challenges for Ireland in transitioning towards a circular economy: (1) Ireland currently has a narrow view of the circular economy that is mainly based on waste, rather than a broader view of resource management; (2) Ireland’s current approach tends to focus on recycling and recovery rather than preventing, repairing and reusing; and (3) there is a lack of place- based considerations that account for local specificities, such as differences in economic activities, income, population density and access to services (OECD, 2022a). The priority actions for Ireland to address waste and the circular economy, identified by the Commission in its EIR 2022, are listed in Topic Box 16.6. In its recent semester report for Ireland (EC, 2024) the Commission identifies an investment gap in relation to the circular economy in Ireland, noting that more investment is required in areas such as eco-design, repair, reuse and remanufacturing and in infrastructure for separating waste collection and treatment and recycling facilities. It concludes that Ireland would benefit from making the waste management system more efficient, reducing waste production, increasing reused and recycled content, improving waste separation and achieving lower incineration rates (EC, 2024). Topic Box 16.6  Priority actions for Ireland on waste and the circular economy (EC, 2022) ■ Adopt the national Circular Economy Strategy. ■ Adopt measures to improve the circular material use rate. ■ Introduce new policy instruments, including economic instruments, to promote prevention and make reusing and recycling more economically attractive. ■ Shift reuseable and recyclable waste away from incineration and landfilling. ■ Increase recycling rates by making the separate collection obligation more effective. ■ Carry out a review of recent reforms to the waste collection market. ■ Ensure that a waste management plan in line with the revised Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/ EC) is in place. Figure 16.4  Ireland’s progress with the SDGs 100 80 60 40 20 0 -20 -40 -60 -80 -100 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 Status compared to EU average (%) Progress SDG 1 SDG 2 SDG 3 SDG 4 SDG 5 SDG 6 SDG 7 SDG 8 SDG 9 SDG 10 SDG 11 SDG 12 SDG 13 SDG 14 SDG 15 SDG 16 SDG 17 Status above EU average; moving away from SDGs Status above EU average; progressing towards SDGs 1. No poverty 2. Zero hunger 3. Good health and wellbeing 4. Quality education 5. Gender equality 6. Clean water and sanitation 7. Affordable and clean energy 8. Decent work and economic growth 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure 10. Reduced inequalities 11. Sustainable cities and communities 12. Responsible consumption and production 13. Climate action 14. Life below water 15. Life on land 16. Peace, justice, and strong institutions 17. Partnerships for the goals Status below EU average; moving away from SDGs Status below EU average; progressing towards SDGs Source: Eurostat, 2024a