Ireland
Extended Producer Responsibility in Ireland has rapidly become the central policy tool for shifting the costs and logistics of end-of-life product management back onto producers and toward a circular-economy model: this approach is enforced and guided through a mix of national regulations (which implement EU directives and the newer Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation), government oversight and technical guidance from regulators and compliance bodies, with the goals of raising recycling and recovery rates, reducing litter and incentivising better product and packaging design. The national packaging scheme operated by Repak , recently granted a new multi-year licence that gives producers regulatory certainty , remains the principal route for packaging compliance and fee collection. At the same time, the State has extended and tightened EPR coverage , for example the tyres EPR scheme was formally expanded to include all tyre categories from 1 January 2025 — and new battery rules and reporting timetables introduced in 2023–2024 are being phased in so producers must prepare for staggered implementation and stricter recycling-content and collection targets.
Looking forward, Ireland’s EPR landscape will be defined by the pace at which new EU rules (notably the PPWR and Battery Regulation) are transposed and enforced, how fee-modulation and transparency measures are tightened, and how well producers, regulators and compliance schemes coordinate data, funding and on-the-ground collection systems.
Legal basis
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Extended Producer Responsibility in Ireland is based on European Union environmental law and is applied through Irish legislation. The main legal foundation is the EU Waste Framework Directive (Directive 2008/98/EC, as amended), which sets out the “polluter pays” principle and allows Member States to introduce EPR schemes. This framework is supported by more specific EU rules, including the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (which is being replaced by the directly applicable Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation), the WEEE Directive (2012/19/EU) and the Batteries Regulation (EU 2023/1542). In Ireland, these requirements are put into effect through statutory instruments and regulations made by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, while compliance and enforcement are overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency. Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs), such as Repak for packaging and WEEE Ireland for electrical equipment, are approved to operate under licence and manage producers’ obligations on their behalf. Together, these EU and national measures create the legal structure that makes producers financially responsible for the end-of-life management of their products.
Facts and figures
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In Ireland, EPR covers several major waste streams and involves a large number of producers. In the packaging sector, the national compliance scheme operated by Repak has thousands of registered members who together place more than one million tonnes of packaging on the Irish market each year. Packaging recycling rates are generally reported in the range of 60–65%, although this varies by material such as paper, plastic, glass or metal.
For electrical and electronic equipment, producers are required to meet EU collection targets under the WEEE Directive. Ireland is working towards the target of collecting 65% of the average weight of equipment placed on the market, but collection rates have varied in recent years and have at times fallen short of that level. The tyres EPR scheme was extended in 2025 to include all tyre categories, bringing more end-of-life tyres into the regulated system.
Overall, producer contributions across packaging, WEEE, tyres and batteries amount to tens of millions of euro each year. This funding supports recycling facilities, civic amenity sites, retailer take-back obligations and public information campaigns. These figures show that EPR plays a significant role in how waste and recycling systems are financed and managed in Ireland.
Packaging organisation in Ireland:
