Did you know you can recycle electronics for free in Waterford? 

Waterford people recycled 7.3kg of electronic and electrical waste per person last year, Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Ireland has revealed.

The figure was given as part of the publishing of WEEE’s annual report for 2025.

But, the Deise number is less than the 9kg average for counties covered by Ireland’s largest e-waste recycling scheme.

WEEE Ireland is encouraging customers 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.

Waterford has two civic amneity sites, one in Kilbarry and the other in Ballinamuck, Dungarvan. 

The report, which is in its 20th year, also showed that nationwide, 21.1 million e-waste items were saved from landfill in 2025.

That figure amounts to 39,000 tonnes of e-waste or 7,425 truckloads.

And, is the most ever since Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Ireland began collecting e-waste 20 years ago.

However, WEEE Ireland warned that despite a record year, the European measurement system fails to capture the full picture of the nation’s recycling progress.

The system, they said, does not properly reflect longer product lifespans or emerging waste streams.

Eighty-four per cent of counties increased their e-waste recycling rates year-on-year, while an average 82% of materials collected were recovered for reuse in manufacturing, exceeding EU recovery requirement of 80 per cent.

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

But WEEE Ireland CEO Leo Donovan said that Ireland is falling short of Europe’s 65 per cent collection target.

In 2025, Irish producers placed 25kg of household electrical equipment per person on the market.

“Waterford 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.

“The focus now has to move beyond simply collecting waste to ensuring valuable materials, including lithium, copper, cobalt and aluminium, are recovered to strict standards and kept within the circular economy.” 

“Ireland is well-positioned to respond to those changes due to sustained investment in our recycling infrastructure, compliance systems and public awareness campaigns over the past two decades,” said Mr Donovan.

For more information, visit www.weeeireland.ie.