By Rachel Cunningham
As a reaction to last year’s significant consumption increase, families in Dublin are being challenged to find and recycle five end-of-life electrical items in a bid to improve Ireland’s recycling performance.
The country’s largest e-waste recycling scheme, WEEE Ireland, is urging Dublin residents to become ‘e-detectives’ for the month of October, by following electrical leads around their homes to identify devices that are beyond repair.
The ‘Follow Your Lead’ campaign aims to increase the supply of waste electrical recycling to local authority sites and retailer collection points in an effort to meet Ireland’s rising recycling targets.
A surge in lockdown spring cleaning saw 11,834 tonnes of electrical waste collected in Dublin, despite Covid-19 and travel restrictions. In Dublin last year, 11.3kg of e-waste was recycled per person, falling short of the 2019 collection rate of 12.5kg, but higher than the 2020 national average of 10.9kg per person.
EU data reports that each person is responsible for an average of 5kg of hoarded electrical waste, which means that an estimated 15-20kg of old and broken appliances are waiting to be recycled in most households.
WEEE Ireland CEO, Leo Donovan, stated: “To mark international e-waste day in October, we are challenging families to find at least five items and free up these valuable resources for use again in manufacturing, saving on the environmental impacts of raw material extraction. Being more resource efficient with e-waste though recycling is a simple yet sustainable way to support a more circular economy in Ireland.”
As a nation, WEEE Ireland claims that Ireland is consuming more electrical goods than ever before.
Almost 60 million household electrical appliances, tech devices and lighting equipment were placed on the Irish market in 2020, with annual consumption rising from 15kg a head in 2016 to 21kg a head last year.
Mr Donovan added: “As we consume and buy more electrical appliances and devices, the recycling targets we must meet also increases to meet annual EU WEEE Directive targets, as it equates to the percentage of goods sold.
“For all of 2021, we need to collect 65 per cent by weight of what goes on the market. If more people recycle their hoarded devices and appliances through the authorised WEEE systems we will be in a much better position to meet those targets and recover this distinct urban mine of materials rather than sending it to waste in landfill”, he concluded.
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