Ireland’s waste processing capacity on a ‘knife-edge’

Summer floods have disrupted exports of excess to Europe as the reopening economy generates more waste

The country does not have enough capacity to process all the waste generated here and about 20 per cent of all municipal waste, the equivalent of almost 330,000 tons of material, is exported to incinerators in Germany and the Netherlands for processing. Picture: Getty

Household rubbish collections are at risk of disruption due to severe capacity constraints in the waste management sector, it has been warned.

Senior industry sources have told the Business Post that the sector is struggling to handle a surge in household and commercial waste volumes in recent months as the economy reopens.

Ireland currently produces about 1.7 million tons of municipal waste every year and capacity levels at waste facilities are described as being on ...