CORK people recycled 9.1kg of electronic and electrical waste per person last year, narrowly beating the 9kg average in the counties covered by Ireland’s largest e-waste recycling scheme.

Across Ireland 21.1 million e-waste items were saved from landfill in 2025 - the most ever since Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Ireland began collecting e-waste 20 years ago.

But despite the record performance, the organisation warned that the European measurement system fails to capture the full picture of the nation’s recycling progress.

WEEE Ireland said that by measuring recycling as a percentage of sales, the system does not properly reflect longer product lifespans or emerging waste streams.

Its annual report, detailing progress in its 20th year of operation, showed that close to 39,000 tonnes of e-waste were collected nationwide last year - or 7,425 truckloads.

The haul included 18.5 million small appliances, 1.9 million lighting products, 278,222 TVs and monitors and 123,060 fridge-freezers.

WEEE Ireland CEO Leo Donovan said: ‘Cork people are making a real effort to do the right thing but Europe’s current measurement system was designed for a very different market.

‘Current collection rate targets do not adequately reflect modern consumption patterns, long product lifespans, or emerging technologies such as solar PV systems and heat pumps.

‘These products may not enter the recycling stream for decades, yet they are already included in today’s sales-based targets. With the re-evaluation of the WEEE Directive in progress, WEEE Ireland supports a more modern approach to measuring the effectiveness of national recycling systems.’

Mr Donovan said “quality recovery” is becoming just as important as collection volumes as Europe seeks to secure critical raw materials needed for renewable energy systems and future manufacturing technologies.

Consumers are encouraged to recycle old and broken electricals and waste batteries free of charge through local authority civic amenity centres, participating retailers and WEEE Ireland collection events nationwide.

For more information visit www.weeeireland.ie.