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Household Environmental Behaviours - Waste and Recycling 2024

Waste Disposal

CSO statistical release, 11 July 2025, 11am

This chapter looks at the detail of the different ways households across the country dispose of waste. We cover four key waste types: non-recyclable, recyclable, food and garden waste. The data we have gathered was reported in an online survey from a sample selection of Irish households. What this chapter will highlight is that there is very high take up of wheelie bin collections for the management of household waste, with rural households more likely than urban ones to use local recycling centres and more likely to compost waste at home.

Eight in ten households use a wheelie bin collection service for non-recyclable waste

Wheelie bin collection service was the most popular way of dispose of non-recyclable waste in 2024, with 80% of all households using this method. This was followed by bringing it to a recycling centre (10%) and sharing the bin with a neighbour, relative, or friend (5%).

For non-recyclable household waste, eight out of ten households (80%) use a wheelie bin collection service. This was most prevalent with households with 5 or more occupants (92%) and less prevalent with households with 1 occupant (70%).
Households in a flat/apartment in a purpose built-block were the most likely to share the bin with a neighbour, relative, or friend (17%).
Households in rural areas bring their non-recyclable waste to a recycling centre nearly 3 times more (17%) than those in urban areas (6%).

See Table 2.1.

Table 2.1: Households' main method for disposing of NON-RECYCLABLE household waste (e.g. heavily soiled food packaging), 2024

Table 2.1: Households' main method for disposing of NON-RECYCLABLE household waste (e.g. heavily soiled food packaging), 2024¹
% of weighted households
Demographic	Wheelie bin collection service	Bring it to a recycling centre that accepts it	Share bin with a neighbour, relative or friend	Pre-paid bag collection service	Bring it to work	Not sure/don't know	Bring it to a Pay-to-Use unit at a petrol station or similar location	Other
State	80	10	5	2	1	1	0	1

Sex of respondent
Female	80	11	5	2	0	1	1	2
Male	81	9	5	2	2	1	0	1

Nature of occupancy
Owner-occupied	82	11	4	1	1	0	1	1
Rented	75	7	7	4	2	2	0	2
Other	80	12	7	1	0	0	0	0

Number of occupants
1 occupant	70	13	9	5	1	0	1	2
2 occupants	76	12	6	3	1	0	1	2
3 occupants	83	9	3	1	1	2	0	2
4 occupants	83	8	4	1	2	0	0	1
5 or more occupants	92	6	2	0	0	0	0	1

Number of children
1 person under 18 years	78	8	6	2	2	1	0	2
2 persons under 18 years	89	7	3	1	0	0	0	1
3 or more persons under 18 years	92	5	2	0	1	0	0	1

Dwelling type
Detached house	78	14	4	1	1	0	1	1
Flat/apartment in a purpose-built block	64	5	17	3	0	4	0	8
Semi-detached house	90	7	2	0	1	0	0	0
Terraced house	83	6	4	6	0	1	0	1
Other	(55)	(6)	(10)	(10)	(18)	(1)	(0)	(0)

Construction date
1961-1980	86	8	3	1	0	1	0	1
1981-2000	83	10	3	2	1	0	0	1
2001 or later	79	9	6	1	1	1	0	2
Before 1961	74	12	5	4	2	0	1	1
Unknown construction period	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..

Region
Border	78	16	5	0	1	0	0	0
Dublin	81	6	5	5	0	1	0	2
Mid-East	88	6	3	0	2	1	0	1
Mid-West	81	8	7	1	1	1	1	0
Midlands	77	16	2	0	1	0	1	2
South-East	76	13	7	0	0	0	2	2
South-West	79	14	3	2	0	2	0	0
West	77	11	5	2	3	0	0	2

Urban/Rural	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rural	72	17	5	2	1	0	1	2
Urban	85	6	4	2	1	1	0	1

Age group of respondent
17-34 years	79	5	7	3	2	1	0	3
35-44 years	84	8	4	1	1	2	0	1
45 to 54 years	83	8	5	2	0	0	0	1
55 to 64 years	78	14	4	1	1	0	1	1
65 years or over	77	15	3	2	0	0	1	1

Working status of respondent
Looking after home/family	88	8	2	0	1	0	0	0
Retired from employment	77	15	4	3	0	0	1	1
Working for payment or profit	81	9	5	2	1	1	0	1
Other	78	8	5	3	2	1	0	2
¹Please note data may not add to 100% due to rounding issues
() Figures in parentheses indicate percentages based on small numbers and are, therefore, subject to a wide margin of error
.. Sample occurrence too small for estimation

Open in Excel: Household Environmental Behaviours - Waste and Recycling 2024 Table 2.1 (XLS 15KB)

Visit Table HEBA01 on PxStat

Visit Table HEBA02 on PxStat

Visit Table HEBA03 on PxStat

Only 1% of households do not recycle household recyclable waste

The most common method of disposing of recyclable household waste was through use of a recyclables wheelie bin collection service with 79% of households using this method nationally. A further 12% of households brought their recyclable waste to a recycling centre, while 4% shared a recycling bin with a neighbour, relative or friend. Only 1% of households responded that they did not recycle household recyclable waste.

Recyclables wheelie bin collection services were most commonly used in the Mid-East region with 86% of households reporting this as their main method of disposing of recyclable waste, compared with 73% of households in the Border region and 71% in the Midland region. See Map 2.1.
However, 23% of households in the Border region brought their recyclable waste to a recycling centre compared with 6% of Dublin households and 9% of households in the Mid-East.
A further 4% of Dublin households used a recyclables pre-paid bag collection service, compared with 2% nationally.

See Map 2.1 and Table 2.2.

Table 2.2: Households' main method for disposing of RECYCLABLE household waste (e.g. paper and cardboard packaging), 2024

Table 2.2: Households' main method for disposing of RECYCLABLE household waste (e.g. paper and cardboard packaging), 2024¹
% of weighted households
Demographic	Recyclables wheelie bin collection service	Bring it to a recycling centre	Share recyclables bin with a neighbour, relative or friend	Recyclables pre-paid bag collection service	Do not recycle	Bring it to work	Not sure/don't know	Other
State	79	12	4	2	1	0	0	1

Sex of respondent
Female	80	13	4	1	1	0	0	1
Male	79	12	4	2	1	1	1	1

Nature of occupancy
Owner-occupied	82	13	3	1	0	0	0	1
Rented	74	9	7	4	2	1	1	2
Other	74	15	7	2	3	0	0	0

Number of occupants
1 occupant	67	19	7	4	1	0	0	1
2 occupants	74	15	5	3	1	1	0	2
3 occupants	83	8	3	0	2	0	2	2
4 occupants	83	11	4	1	1	0	0	1
5 or more occupants	91	7	1	0	0	0	0	0

Number of children
1 person under 18 years	77	11	5	1	3	0	1	1
2 persons under 18 years	89	7	3	0	0	0	0	1
3 or more persons under 18 years	93	5	1	0	0	1	0	0

Dwelling type
Detached house	76	18	3	1	1	0	0	1
Flat/apartment in a purpose-built block	63	3	16	3	5	0	3	7
Semi-detached house	89	8	2	0	1	0	0	0
Terraced house	83	9	3	4	0	0	0	0
Other	(55)	(22)	(10)	(10)	(0)	(3)	(0)	(0)

Construction date
1961-1980	85	11	3	1	0	0	0	1
1981-2000	81	12	3	2	1	0	0	0
2001 or later	80	9	5	1	1	0	1	2
Before 1961	72	19	4	4	1	1	0	1
Unknown construction period	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..

Region
Border	73	23	1	0	1	1	0	0
Dublin	82	6	5	4	1	0	1	2
Mid-East	86	9	3	1	1	0	0	1
Mid-West	79	12	7	0	0	1	1	1
Midlands	71	21	2	0	2	1	0	2
South-East	76	16	6	1	0	0	0	1
South-West	78	15	2	2	2	0	1	1
West	79	11	5	2	1	0	0	2

Urban/Rural
Rural	71	21	4	2	1	0	0	1
Urban	84	8	4	1	1	0	1	1

Age group of respondent
17-34 years	79	8	6	3	2	0	0	2
35-44 years	84	7	3	1	2	0	1	1
45 to 54 years	82	12	4	1	0	0	0	1
55 to 64 years	76	18	3	1	0	1	0	1
65 years or over	77	18	3	2	0	0	0	1

Working status of respondent
Looking after home/family	85	9	2	0	3	1	0	1
Retired from employment	76	18	2	2	1	0	0	1
Working for payment or profit	81	11	4	1	1	0	1	1
Other	77	11	5	3	2	0	0	2
¹Please note data may not add to 100% due to rounding issues
() Figures in parentheses indicate percentages based on small numbers and are, therefore, subject to a wide margin of error
.. Sample occurrence too small for estimation

Open in Excel: Household Environmental Behaviours - Waste and Recycling 2024 Table 2.2 (XLS 15KB)

Visit Table HEBA11 on PxStat

Visit Table HEBA12 on PxStat

Visit Table HEBA13 on PxStat

Half of households living in purpose-built flats or apartments reported disposing of their food waste in the general waste bin

Food waste was disposed of in a variety of ways: Half (52%) of all households usually put it in the organic (brown) bin for collection with 22% of households putting it in the general waste bin. 13% composted it at home, and 9% fed it to animals.

Among different dwelling types, 49% of residents living in purpose-built flats or apartments reported disposing of their food waste in the general waste bin, the highest proportion by dwelling type, followed by 21% of households in terraced houses. Households in semi-detached houses reported the least use of the general waste bin for disposing of food waste (16% of households in these dwelling types).
Nearly a quarter (23%) of rural households compost their food waste at home, compared to 7% of urban households.
Composting food waste at home is most prevalent in the south-east where 21% of households compost at home, and least prevalent in Dublin (7%).

See Figure 2.1 and Table 2.3.

X-axis label	Rural	Urban
Put it in the organic (brown) bin for collection	30.7	64
Put it in the general (residual) waste bin for collection	22.4	21.6
Compost it at home	23.3	7.2
Feed it to animals	18.6	3.8
Bring it to a recycling centre	3.7	1.1
Not sure/don't know	0.2	1.2
Other	1	1.1

Table 2.3: Households' usual method of disposing of FOOD WASTE (including raw or cooked, edible or inedible parts of food), 2024

Table 2.3: Households' usual method of disposing of FOOD WASTE (including raw or cooked, edible or inedible parts of food), 2024¹
% of weighted households
Demographic	Put it in the organic (brown) bin for collection	Put it in the general (residual) waste bin for collection	Compost it at home	Feed it to animals	Bring it to a recycling centre	Not sure/don't know	Other
State	52	22	13	9	2	1	1

Sex of respondent
Female	52	23	13	9	2	1	1
Male	52	21	13	10	2	1	1

Nature of occupancy
Owner-occupied	55	18	14	10	2	0	1
Rented	46	32	9	9	1	2	2
Other	49	23	19	6	3	0	0

Number of occupants
1 occupant	44	24	16	12	3	0	1
2 occupants	50	21	17	8	3	1	2
3 occupants	56	24	11	5	1	2	2
4 occupants	54	24	10	9	2	2	0
5 or more occupants	56	17	10	15	1	0	0

Number of children
1 person under 18 years	52	21	14	8	2	2	1
2 persons under 18 years	50	25	8	16	1	0	1
3 or more persons under 18 years	57	23	7	10	2	0	0

Dwelling type
Detached house	41	20	19	15	3	0	1
Flat/apartment in a purpose-built block	41	49	2	2	0	3	3
Semi-detached house	67	16	9	5	2	0	1
Terraced house	63	21	9	4	1	1	1
Other	(36)	(33)	(7)	(4)	(5)	(15)	(0)

Construction date
1961-1980	65	12	11	8	2	0	1
1981-2000	55	23	10	8	3	0	1
2001 or later	48	27	10	10	2	1	2
Before 1961	44	20	23	10	1	2	1
Unknown construction period	..	..	..	..	..	..	..

Region	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Border	30	30	16	19	5	0	1
Dublin	66	22	7	2	1	1	1
Mid-East	58	22	12	5	2	0	1
Mid-West	55	14	15	12	3	1	1
Midlands	38	31	11	16	2	0	3
South-East	41	20	21	16	2	0	1
South-West	52	20	14	9	3	2	1
West	43	22	18	13	1	3	1

Urban/Rural
Rural	31	22	23	19	4	0	1
Urban	64	22	7	4	1	1	1

Age group of respondent
17-34 years	48	27	11	10	1	2	1
35-44 years	57	23	9	7	1	1	1
45 to 54 years	50	25	10	11	2	1	1
55 to 64 years	54	19	13	9	4	0	1
65 years or over	52	14	21	9	4	0	1

Working status of respondent
Looking after home/family	60	24	6	7	2	0	1
Retired from employment	50	17	22	6	5	0	1
Working for payment or profit	52	23	11	10	2	1	1
Other	52	22	11	10	1	2	1
¹Please note data may not add to 100% due to rounding issues
() Figures in parentheses indicate percentages based on small numbers and are, therefore, subject to a wide margin of error
.. Sample occurrence too small for estimation

Open in Excel: Household Environmental Behaviours - Waste and Recycling 2024 Table 2.3 (XLS 14KB)

Visit Table HEBA21 on PxStat

Visit Table HEBA22 on PxStat

Visit Table HEBA23 on PxStat

Two-thirds of rural households compost garden waste at home

Garden waste was most commonly put in the organic bin (37%) and composted at home (37%), with some differences by location.

Two-thirds (67%) of rural households composted garden waste compared with 21% of urban households.
13% of households in Dublin compost their garden waste at home compared to 37% nationally.

See Figure 2.2 and Table 2.4.

%	Rural	Urban
Put it in the organic (brown) bin for collection	10.3	51.7
Compost it at home	66.7	20.9
Not relevant	9.5	12.2
Bring it to a recycling centre	2.3	5.6
Put it in the general (residual) waste bin for collection	3.5	5.7
Not sure/don't know	0.7	1.6
Other	7.1	2.3

Table 2.4: Households usual method for the disposal of GARDEN WASTE (e.g. grass, plants and garden clippings), 2024

Table 2.4: Households usual method for the disposal of GARDEN WASTE (e.g. grass, plants and garden clippings), 2024¹
% of weighted households
Demographic	Put it in the organic (brown) bin for collection	Compost it at home	Not relevant	Bring it to a recycling centre	Put it in the general (residual) waste bin for collection	Not sure/don't know	Other
State	37	37	11	5	5	1	4

Sex of respondent
Female	37	36	11	5	6	2	4
Male	36	39	12	4	4	1	4

Nature of occupancy
Owner-occupied	39	41	5	5	4	1	4
Rented	31	28	25	2	8	3	3
Other	32	33	18	4	5	2	5

Number of occupants
1 occupant	32	30	18	6	9	1	4
2 occupants	34	39	12	6	4	0	4
3 occupants	43	32	12	3	4	2	4
4 occupants	38	40	8	3	4	2	5
5 or more occupants	38	43	7	3	4	2	4

Number of children
1 person under 18 years	35	37	14	4	4	2	4
2 persons under 18 years	40	35	9	3	6	2	5
3 or more persons under 18 years	39	42	6	2	2	5	4

Dwelling type
Detached house	22	59	6	3	3	1	6
Flat/apartment in a purpose-built block	18	11	52	1	11	5	3
Semi-detached house	57	25	4	5	5	1	3
Terraced house	54	16	11	8	8	2	2
Other	(19)	(26)	(46)	(2)	(6)	(0)	(2)

Construction date
1961-1980	49	29	7	9	2	2	3
1981-2000	37	37	10	4	5	1	5
2001 or later	32	37	15	3	7	1	5
Before 1961	32	48	9	5	4	1	2
Unknown construction period	..	..	..	..	..	..	..

Region
Border	10	56	16	2	7	3	5
Dublin	55	13	17	8	5	1	2
Mid-East	49	34	5	3	4	1	4
Mid-West	21	56	8	5	4	2	4
Midlands	35	38	5	5	9	1	8
South-East	31	47	9	5	5	1	3
South-West	31	46	9	3	4	2	5
West	30	48	12	1	4	0	5

Urban/Rural
Rural	10	67	10	2	4	1	7
Urban	52	21	12	6	6	2	2

Age group of respondent
17-34 years	34	33	21	1	6	2	3
35-44 years	42	32	12	2	3	3	5
45 to 54 years	39	41	7	4	5	1	4
55 to 64 years	37	39	8	7	5	0	4
65 years or over	33	42	7	9	5	0	4

Working status of respondent
Looking after home/family	43	29	9	6	5	6	3
Retired from employment	31	43	9	9	5	0	3
Working for payment or profit	39	37	10	4	5	1	5
Other	35	37	16	2	5	2	3
¹Please note data may not add to 100% due to rounding issues
() Figures in parentheses indicate percentages based on small numbers and are, therefore, subject to a wide margin of error
.. Sample occurrence too small for estimation