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Why we need to recycle?
As consumers buy more and more products, product lifecycles consistently decrease. This increases waste volume, such as discarded packaging, batteries, and disused devices. Simple solutions can relieve the pressure.
Effective recycling solutions benefit people, businesses, and the environment. And they are needed more than ever at a time when waste volumes are increasing and efficient ways must be found to recycle electronic devices, batteries, bottles, paper metal, glass, packaging, and more.
Where can I recycle?
WEEE
Recycle your household waste electrical items for free at your local recycling centre or at your local electrical retailer on a one-for-one, like-for-like basis, instore or upon delivery, free of charge.
The retailers, Currys, DID, Euronics, Expert, Harvey Norman, Power City and Soundstore offer free recycling of all household e-waste instore with no purchase required, as part of the ‘We’ll Take It Back’ Programme.
Batteries
Recycle your used batteries at your local newsagent, supermarket or recycling centre, free of charge!
MyWaste.ie is Ireland’s official guide to managing your waste. Here you can find an interactive map which will show your nearest local recycling centre and authorised collection point for WEEE and battery recycling
Recycling
What happens to your waste?
We believe recycling should be simple.
However, with so many types of products and materials, and multiple packaging symbols, it’s not always easy to distinguish what is recyclable from what isn’t.
To help simplify things, we’ve assembled an interactive guide of what you can and can’t recycle, with some general information about what happens during recycling and what can be reused.
Learn about the recycling process by selecting the icons below.
Large domestic appliances
Cooling appliances
Display equipment
Small appliances
Gas discharge lamps
Photovoltaic panels
Batteries
Large domestic appliances
Washing machines, tumble dryers, dishwashers, ovens.
The first stage of recycling is decontamination: cables and other electrical components are removed; ballasts, plastics, iron compounds and other metals are separated and recovered. These materials are then sent for further processing and recovery.
Recycling process
1. Pre-shedding decontamination
2. Shredding
3. Separation
Recovered materials
Cables
Concrete
Capacitor
Plastic
Ferrous Metal
Non-Ferrous Metal
Temperature exchange equipment /Cooling appliances
Refrigerators, freezers, automatic cold products delivery machines.
Products include fridges, freezers, and any appliances with refrigerating devices such as water coolers. Some appliances also contain refrigerant gases classified as Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) and hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) that are now banned.
These gases are captured and treated in ODS recovery plants. Cold appliance de-pollution entails a variety of processes: compressors are decontaminated to recover ODS and oils; insulating foam is treated to recover ODS; metals are salvaged and resold, and plastics can be reused for new products. Recovered oils and ODS are destroyed in a specialised treatment process.
Recycling process
1. Decontamination
2. Shredding
3. Separation
4. Foam decontamination
Recovered materials
Gas
Oil
Capacitor
Plastic
Ferrous Metal
Foam
Display equipment
Televisions, screens, LCD, pc monitors
Display equipment includes cathode ray tubes (found in old-style TV sets and computer monitors) and flat-screen TVs and computer monitors, such as plasma and liquid crystal displays (LCD).
Cathode ray tubes (CRT) contain hazardous phosphor powder, leaded glass, copper, and other rare metals. These materials can be reused to make new products. Panel and funnel glass from the cathode ray tubes are also recovered. The coating on the funnel glass is removed and the glass is cleaned for new CRT manufacture.
Most LCD TVs use mercury lamps to light the screen. To remove the lamps, the appliance must be disassembled before processing the LCD screen. Research is currently being carried out to develop more effective, automated solutions.