Ireland has been praised by the European Environment Agency for having one of the fastest increased rates of recycling in the EU.
In a report released today, the EEA found that Ireland increased the share of municipal waste recycling from 11% to 36% between 2001 and 2010.
Recycling rates were highest in Austria at 63%, followed by Germany at 62% and Belgium at 58%, in 2010.
The agency said although some countries have rapidly increased recycling rates, Europe is still wasting vast quantities of valuable resources by sending them to landfill.
