Half of Irish electrical waste remains unaccounted for

Half of Ireland's electrical and electronic waste remains unaccounted for despite the country ranking in the top five in Europe for electrical recycling.

A European Union-funded project found that one in four Irish people continues to throw electrical waste in the bin or hoard it at home.

It also found Irish people avail of unauthorised collections and scrap metal channels and that illegal dumping of such waste continues.

While Ireland currently surpasses the 45 per cent take-back target set by the EU, it could be at risk of fines when this increases to 65 per cent in 2019. This is according to WEEE Ireland, a compliance scheme that manages the collection, recovery and recycling of waste equipment.

The wider EU study found that almost two-thirds of discarded but still functioning electronic and electrical equipment in Europe was exported, or recycled incorrectly. It found the theft of components from waste electronics resulted in an estimated annual loss of between €800 million and €1.7 billion to compliant European waste processors.

PAMELA DUNCAN