National Recycling Bin Survey

INFO [what will be done]

Description:

Conducted by VOICE Ireland as part of the Sick of Plastic campaign, the survey moves beyond traditional recycling statistics by identifying the sectors and product categories responsible for the packaging entering Irish homes. The National Recycling Bin Survey is the first in Ireland to analyse household recycling waste and attribute such waste to specific retail sectors. Key findings across the surveys

The findings reveal several consistent trends:

Supermarkets remain the largest source of household packaging waste, accounting for approximately 66% of recycling bin waste in 2023 and 70% in both 2025 and 2026.

Plastic continues to dominate the recycling stream. Plastic represented 47% of all recorded items in 2023 and 2025, increasing to 55% in 2026, driven largely by growth in soft plastic packaging.

Households participating in the 2026 survey recorded an average of 128 packaging items over a two-week period, equivalent to more than 3,300 items per household each year.

The vast majority of participants want to reduce their packaging waste, and are frustrated by the amount of packaging waste entering the home.

Existing reuse and refill solutions were shown to reduce packaging waste by up to 65% in the 2025 supermarket packaging audit.

Location [WHERE it will take place]

Country:

Ireland

Address:

Dublin

Upper Mount Street

D02 K659

Action Developer [WHO will run the show]

Entity:

Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment (VOICE)

# Association/NGO

How can you get in contact:

You can read our report on our website, or on socials (@voiceireland). One can share this report with friends and family. One can contact their local supermarkets, send this report to them and tell their supermarkets they want less plastic packaging. One can write to their politicians and demand that they pass legislation to make supermarkets bring in refill in bulk and reduce packaging waste.