Can Cork meet its e-waste recycling targets this year?
“In Cork, and across Ireland, we are buying more electrical goods than ever – with people purchasing an average 25kg per head in 2024 compared to 16kgs just six years ago.”
Those were the words of WEEE Ireland CEO Leo Donovan as Cork householders were urged to bring their batteries, electrical, and electronic waste to a set of free collection days to help the county meet national e-waste recycling targets for 2025.
The events, hosted by WEEE Ireland in partnership with Cork County Council, take place on Saturday 19 July from 10am-4pm at the Mallow GAA Sports Complex, St Joseph's Road, Carrigoon, Mallow, and on Saturday 26 July from 10am-4pm at Fermoy Mart, Corrin Events Centre, Corrin, Fermoy.
Additional collections will take place across the county throughout August. Anything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled for free on the day, including old washing machines, TVs, toasters and kettles, electronic tools and toys, cables, IT equipment, mobile phones, remote controls, batteries, including farm fence batteries, and even watches.
Mr Donovan said: “Shopping stats show a surge in spend on new electrical devices like mobile phones, computers, small kitchen appliances and white goods. With old items still lying around many households we want to offer the opportunity to recycle these for free.
“People in Cork have contributed greatly to e-waste recycling every year, with 5,409 tonnes of electrical waste collected in the county in 2024, and we want to encourage that trend.”
9.3kg of e-waste was recycled per person in Cork last year – falling short of the WEEE Ireland collection area average of 9.5kg per person that same year.
WEEE Ireland warns that the nation needs to meet new forthcoming EU targets to recycle at least 25% of our annual consumption of critical raw materials from e-waste.
“An average of 96% of all e-waste that we collect is recovered for use again in manufacturing through both indigenous operators and specialist processors in Europe,” said Mr Donovan.
He added: “Most end-of-life products contain metals and minerals in higher concentrations than primary resources. These stocks of resources are the urban mines of the future, so our recycling efforts can have a significant impact on the environment.”
In 2024, the equivalent of 206,521 tonnes of CO2 emissions were avoided by recycling e-waste through the WEEE Ireland Scheme as opposed to landfilling. That is the equivalent of the annual carbon consumption of 4,130 hectares of trees.
WEEE Ireland accounts for over two-thirds of all national waste electrical and electronics collection activity on behalf of 1,355 producer members.
These free events are in partnership with Cork County Council.
“Recycling e-waste is incredibly beneficial for both the environment and the economy. Together, we are diverting waste from landfill, recovering raw materials for reuse and ensuring hazardous materials are safely and responsibly disposed of. We look forward to working with Cork householders to hopefully recycle a record-breaking amount of electronic waste in 2025,” he concluded.