Air quality in Ireland is generally good, however, there are concerning localised issues that are impacting negatively on the air we breathe.
Ireland met all of its EU legal requirements in 2021, but it did not meet the new health-based WHO guidelines.
Ireland and Europe should move towards achieving the health-based WHO air quality guidelines.
It is estimated that there are approximately 1,300 premature deaths annually in Ireland due to poor air quality from fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
The choices we make in how we heat our homes and how we travel directly impacts the quality of the air we breathe.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today launched its annual air quality report ‘Air Quality in Ireland 2021’.
The report shows that, while air quality in Ireland is generally good and compares favourably with many of our European neighbours, there are concerning localised issues, which lead to poor air quality.
While Ireland met EU legal air quality limits in 2021, it did not meet the health-based World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines for a number of pollutants including: particulate matter (PM), nitrogen Dioxide (N02), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3), due to the burning of solid fuel in our towns and villages and traffic in our cities.
Poor air quality has a negative impact on people’s health and there are an estimated 1,300 premature deaths in Ireland per year due to particulate matter in our air. Air monitoring results in 2021 from EPA stations across Ireland show that fine particulate matter (PM2.5), mainly from burning solid fuel in our homes, and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) mainly from road traffic, remain the main threats to good air quality.
Launching the report, Air Quality in Ireland 2021, Dr Micheál Lehane, Director of the EPA’s Office of Radiation Protection & Environmental Monitoring, said, “The EPA’s air quality monitoring carried out in 2021 has shown that Ireland met all of its EU legal requirements in 2021. However, we would not have met the new WHO air quality guidelines for health. Meeting the new WHO guidelines for air quality will be a major challenge for the country, however the report identifies a number of solutions to move towards these guideline levels”.
In the report the EPA states that:
Ireland and Europe should move towards achieving the health-based WHO air quality guidelines.
The planned National Clean Air Strategy for Ireland needs to be published and fully implemented.
Local Authorities must provide more resources to increase air enforcement activities.
National investment in clean public transport is needed across the country.
Mr Pat Byrne, EPA Programme Manager, said, “Air quality in Ireland is generally good, however, there are localised issues that are impacting negatively on air quality and our health. In our towns and villages monitoring identifies high levels of particulate matter associated with burning solid fuels and in our larger cities high levels of nitrogen dioxide is associated with road traffic. There are options and solutions to help improve the air we breathe. Changes we make to how we heat our homes and finding alternative ways to travel can immediately impact our local air quality”.
The EPA’s Air Quality in Ireland 2021 report is now availableHEREon the EPA website.
The EPA continually monitors air quality across Ireland and provides the air quality index for health and real-time results online HERE. Results are updated hourly on the website, and people can log on at any time to check whether the current air quality is good, fair or poor. You can also find out how to improve air quality from the EPA’s “How we can improve the air we breathe infographic” or check out the ‘ABC for Cleaner Air’ campaign from the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, which highlights some simple steps we can all make and help reduce pollution from solid fuels.
Further information: Emily Williamson, EPA Media Relations Office: Tel: 053-91 70770 (24 hours) and media@epa.ie
Pharma giant MSD (the international name for US-based pharma and healthcare giant Merck & Co., Inc.) has officially opened Ireland’s largest self-generation solar project, at its Ballydine site, here in south Co. Tipperary.
Working in partnership with the state owned electricity company ESB (Electricity Supply Board), latter Ireland’s foremost energy company; MSD have built the 7.3MW ground-mounted solar PV array, to support the Ballydine factory facility in significantly reducing its carbon footprint. Same is in line with MSD’s announcement just last year to achieve carbon neutrality, across its whole manufacturing operation by the year 2025.
MSD estimate that the system could generate approximately 7.9GWh of clean, renewable electricity thus producing some 20% of its energy requirements from renewable energy sources.
MSD employs more than 2,800 staff across six sites in Ireland, with bases in Tipperary, Carlow, Cork, Meath and Dublin and to date MSD have invested more than $4bn into its Irish operations, which manufacture around half of its top 20 products.
Ireland generated over one million tonnes of packaging waste in 2020, for the fourth year in a row.
Ireland is continuing to achieve high levels of recycling for glass (84%), paper/cardboard (78%) and metal packaging (71%).
Plastics present a serious challenge. Only 29% of plastic packaging waste was recycled in 2020, a long way off the 2025 EU target of 50%. The majority of Ireland’s plastic packaging waste is being incinerated.
Targeted financial and regulatory measures are urgently needed to drive a step change improvement in plastic recycling.
The EPA has today published its latest figures on packaging waste in Ireland.
Ireland is meeting current EU recycling targets and achieving high recycling rates for some streams such as glass, paper/cardboard and metals. However, recycling rates remain low for plastic at 29%, and the share of plastic packaging treated by incineration was 71% in 2020.
The EPA data shows that Ireland will face significant challenges in meeting the 2025 and 2030 recycling targets for plastic of 50% and 55%. The majority of Ireland’s recycling is done abroad, with just 18% of packaging waste (204,000 tonnes) recycled in Ireland in 2020, mainly glass and wood.
Most plastic packaging waste was sent for incineration, with less than one third recycled. Diversion to energy recovery is happening due to poor segregation at businesses and homes and challenges finding financially viable markets for lightweight and low-quality plastics. If the current practices continue, Ireland will struggle to meet plastic recycling targets and the climate emissions associated from managing plastic waste will continue to grow.
Commenting on the figures, Ms Sharon Finegan, (Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Sustainability) said: “While Ireland is meeting current recycling targets, future targets will be more challenging, especially for plastic. Achieving the step change improvement needed in plastic recycling requires fiscal and regulatory measures to be introduced without delay. This could include enhanced recycling subsidies, a levy on incineration, introducing performance targets on waste operators, and the implementation of incentivised pricing to encourage Irish businesses and households to properly segregate their waste for recycling”.
Along with improving recycling rates, measures are needed to prevent packaging waste. Ireland’s generation of 1.1 million tonnes of packaging waste per year, represents a poor use of materials and energy and is a growing source of emissions. Packaging waste can be avoided and reduced through better product design and by substituting single use for reusable packaging.
Mr Warren Phelan, (Programme Manager of the EPA’s Circular Economy Programme) noted: “With Ireland’s packaging waste exceeding 1.1 million tonnes per year, we need to intensify efforts to reduce packaging waste. Examples of reusable packaging already in use in Ireland include wooden pallets, kegs, and various plastic bulk containers, trays, boxes and buckets. While just 1 per cent of the packaging placed on the Irish market in 2020 was reusable (approximately 8,000 tonnes), this avoided about 72,000 tonnes of single use packaging”.
The report Packaging Waste in Ireland in 2020, is now available on the EPA website HERE. Contact: Ms Emily Williamson, (EPA Media Relations Office), Tel: 053-9170770(24 hours) or media@epa.ie.
Weee accepts any household waste electrical items:- e.g.Batteries; Energy Saving Lightbulbs; Fridges; Phones; Laptops, Computers; Lawnmowers, Toys, Power Tools, ———literally anything which uses a plug or battery.
WEEE Ireland is one of the best performing recycling schemes in Europe, with a record 18.7 million waste electrical items collected during 2021.
WEEE Ireland exceeded the EU’s 45% target for waste portable batteries in 2021 by 1% – with 1,085 tonnes collected, a 16% increase on 2020. Some 57% of electrical waste was collected from retailer sites – up 233 tonnes on the previous year, and the seventh year of increases, while 28% was collected at local authority sites.
THURLES: Saturday, September 10th, 2022, Thurles Recycling Centre Cabragh Business Park, Cabragh, Thurles from 10:00am – 4:00pm.
TEMPLEMORE: Saturday, September 3rd, 2022, Co-op Mart, Bank Street, Templemore from 10:00am – 4:00pm.
CARRICK-ON-SUIR: Saturday, August 27th, 2022, Fairgreen Car Park, Fairgreen, Carrick-on-Suir from 10:00am – 4:00pm.
CAHIR; Saturday, August 20th, 2022, The Mart, Cashel Road, Cahir from 10:00am – 4:00pm.
Remember, Weee accept any household waste electrical items:- Batteries; Energy Saving Lightbulbs; Fridges; Phones; Laptops, Computers; Lawnmowers, Toys, Power Tools …… anything with a plug or battery.
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