Municipal waste recycled in Ireland

Ireland: Municipal waste recycled was 1.31 million tonnes in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
1.31 million tonnes
Change on year
up 13.6%
World rank
29th
of 86 countries
All-time high
1.31 million tonnes
in 2020
All-time low
271,000 tonnes
in 2000
Years of data
19
2000–2020

Municipal waste recycled in Ireland, 2000–2020

250.0k500.0k750.0k1.0M1.2M2000201020202000: 271.0k tonnes2001: 306.0k tonnes2002: 497.0k tonnes2003: 690.0k tonnes2004: 885.0k tonnes2005: 946.0k tonnes2006: 1.1M tonnes2007: 1.2M tonnes2008: 1.1M tonnes2009: 990.0k tonnes2010: 1.0M tonnes2011: 1.0M tonnes2012: 985.0k tonnes2014: 1.0M tonnes2016: 1.1M tonnes2017: 1.1M tonnes2018: 1.1M tonnes2019: 1.2M tonnes2020: 1.3M tonnes

Source: United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes.

Analysis

Ireland recorded 1.31 million tonnes for municipal waste recycled in 2020. That is the highest value across all 19 years on record.

The figure is up 13.6% on the previous year and up 28.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, municipal waste recycled in Ireland peaked at 1.31 million tonnes in 2020 and was at its lowest, 271,000 tonnes, in 2000.

Ireland ranks 29th of 86 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 19 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 794,800 tonnes 271,000 tonnes 1.16 million tonnes 10
2010s 1.07 million tonnes 985,000 tonnes 1.15 million tonnes 8
2020s 1.31 million tonnes 1.31 million tonnes 1.31 million tonnes 1

Countries ranked near Ireland

  1. 26 Sweden 1.65 million tonnes compare
  2. 28 Portugal 1.61 million tonnes compare
  3. 30 Slovakia 1.29 million tonnes compare
  4. 31 Hungary 1.28 million tonnes compare
  5. 32 Finland 1.27 million tonnes compare

See the full ranking of 86 places →

More environment data for Ireland

All data for Ireland →

Frequently asked questions

What is municipal waste recycled in Ireland?
Municipal waste recycled in Ireland was 1.31 million tonnes in 2020, according to United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest municipal waste recycled recorded in Ireland?
The highest recorded value was 1.31 million tonnes in 2020.
What is the lowest municipal waste recycled recorded in Ireland?
The lowest recorded value was 271,000 tonnes in 2000.
How does Ireland rank for municipal waste recycled?
Ireland ranks 29th out of 86 countries with data for 2020.
Is municipal waste recycled rising or falling in Ireland?
Over the last ten years it is up 28.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Ireland data come from?
The figures come from United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Municipal waste recycled. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Municipal waste recycled
Unit
tonnes
Source
United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
86 places, 1,389 data points, 2000–2022
Last refreshed

Municipal waste recycled (Tonnes)