More than a million meals wasted every day in Ireland
To Which Making By Waste, Wasted Followed Food Most Up Vegetables, Bread 11% Type 9% Up Total Of Made Monly Be Was Food Found
Ireland is wasting more than one million meals a day, with 70% of food waste generated by food and drink businesses across the country.
Latest figures released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday show more than 750,000 tonnes of food waste was generated within Ireland in just one year.
This showed no marked increase from the previous year, when a total of 753,000 tonnes of food waste was recorded.
This equates to 146kg of food waste per person and is significantly higher than the EU average of 130kg of food waste per individual.
Households accounted for 30% of all total food waste, costing them an average of €700 a year. This comes to an annual national cost of €1.29bn.
The Reducing Commercial Food Waste in Ireland report, published in 2019, found 66% of food waste generated by the food services sector could be avoided.
The annual cost of food waste in the food service sector is estimated to be more than €300m.
The retail and distribution sector made up 90,000 tonnes of food waste in 2022, accounting for 12% of the total.
This sector consists of food waste accumulated from supermarkets and smaller shops, service stations and general retail, as well as food waste gathered by food and beverage wholesale companies.
The report also found hotels were the biggest culprits for food waste.
The most commonly wasted food type was found to be vegetables, making up 11% of total food waste, followed by bread which made up 9%.
This figure was followed by meat and potatoes, which made up 8% and 7% of the total food waste, respectively.
In 2022, the Government published the National Food Waste Prevention Roadmap, with the hope of halving Ireland’s food waste by 2030.
Careful measurement of food waste is the first step introduced by the Government to implement food waste prevention.
This programme is carried out through the agency’s Circular Economy Programme, raising awareness on food waste.
Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Sustainability David Flynn said Ireland was “wasting too much food”, causing “a significant resource and economic loss”.
“With 70% of food waste generated by food and drink businesses across the supply chain, there is a clear obligation on this sector to focus on preventing food waste,” Mr Flynn said.
Signing up to the EPA’s Food Waste Charter was a “positive statement” the business was serious about taking action to measure and reduce food waste, Mr Flynn added.
Mr Flynn said any unavoidable food waste should be segregated for recycling, with waste collectors required to provide an organic waste bin, therefore all businesses should now have a three-bin system in place.
Programme Manager at EPA Circular Economy Programme Warren Phelan said it was the waste collector’s responsibility to provide household customers with a food waste collection service since January 2024.
“Greater coverage and rollout of the organic waste bin is key to segregating food waste and increasing recycling through composting and anaerobic digestion,” he added.
Identifying food waste is the first step in preventing waste at home, while the EPA’s Stop Food Waste programme provides lots of practical information to support householders, Mr Phelan added.