How Ireland can stop wasting a million meals a day

Consumer Interests: Ireland's food waste pile is not decreasing and this impacts household finances, food supply and the environment, writes John Hearne

Food waste costs households an average of €700 per year.

New figures from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) show we generated more than 750,000 tonnes of food waste in 2022. Moreover, there has been no significant decrease in the amount of food we threw out compared to either 2021 or 2020.

More than 70% of this waste was generated by food and drink businesses and 30% by households. This is food wasted during production, manufacturing, processing and distribution at retail level, in restaurants and at home.

'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.'

David Flynn is director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Sustainability. He says as a nation, we’re wasting more than one million meals a day.

"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. Signing up to the EPA’s Food Waste Charter is a positive statement that your business is serious about taking action to measure and reduce food waste.”

“Unavoidable food waste should be segregated for recycling. Waste collectors are required to provide an organic waste bin so all businesses should now have a three-bin system in place.”

Financial cost of food waste

Householders may not be the worst offenders here, but the EPA is keen to emphasise we all have a responsibility to turn things around. Throwing away food means throwing away money.

Warren Phelan of the EPA’s Circular Economy Programme points out that waste costs households an average of €700 per year.

“Knowing the food you waste is the first step to prevent waste at home and the EPA’s Stop Food Waste programme provides lots of practical information to support householders.”

Globally, the figures are even more depressing. The UN differentiates between food loss and food waste. They say about 14% of food produced is lost between harvest and retail, while a further 17% is wasted by households, the food service industry and retail.

When food is lost or wasted, all of the resources that were used to produce it go to waste as well. In addition, there is also a big issue with the disposal of food in landfill sites. This leads to greenhouse gas emissions, thereby worsening climate change. 

Food loss and waste can also negatively impact food security and food availability, and of course, the loss of food out of the system drives prices higher.

We usually think of food waste occurring at the end of the line, at the point where you make that decision: which bin? But preventing the problem starts at the point when we buy our groceries, and it continues at home in how we store and cook the food we’ve bought.

It’s always a good idea to check food inventories and make a list rather than winging it and buying perishables that you may already have in the fridge.

How to minimise waste

Check use-by-dates to avoid buying food that might be thrown out if not eaten immediately. And beware special deals. These are great for toilet rolls and shampoo but bad for fruit, vegetables and salads, anything that can go off quickly.

If it’s an option for you, try shopping online for the basics. When you grocery shop online, you’re not distracted by all the other goods on the shelves.

The items that get dumped most often are bananas, apples and potatoes. One fifth of all the bread we buy gets tossed, as does one tenth of the meat and fish and one tenth too of dairy products.

So what are the foods we tend to throw out most often? According to the EPA’s Stop Food Waste campaign, no less than half of all the salad foods we buy end up in the bin. A quarter of fruit and vegetables join them. 

Of these, the items that get dumped most often are bananas, apples and potatoes. One fifth of all the bread we buy gets tossed, as does one tenth of the meat and fish and one tenth too of dairy products.

Reducing the amount of stuff that ends up in the wider waste stream has the added advantage of easing the costs of getting rid of it. There are plenty of ways of reducing that bill and limiting the amount of stuff that ends up in the general waste, or in your recycling bin.

Always take your own bags to the supermarket — store them in the car so you don’t forget them — and if you’re offered a bag while out shopping, refuse it if you can. And when food shopping, try to opt for goods with little or no packaging. It also helps to buy non-perishables in bulk instead of single-serving, smaller versions of the same product.

Reusable containers are great for storing leftovers and extending the life of food in the fridge. They also make it easier to avoid using freezer bags, cling film and tin foil. It’s always a good idea to use see-through containers so you don’t forget what you put in them.

Good-quality rechargeable batteries are always more expensive than non-rechargeable ones, but they pay back very quickly. Not alone do you reduce the number of batteries heading for recycling, you’ll also cut back on the packaging waste that goes with each set. In the same vein, avoid single use disposable items — like razors and wipes — whenever you can.

Deposit return scheme

If you haven’t engaged with the deposit return scheme yet, give it a go. Customers who purchase a can or bottle under the scheme can claim back between 15c and 25c per purchase, depending on the size of the container.

According to the Department of the Environment, more than 76 million containers have been returned and more than €13m has been refunded in deposits since the scheme went live.

According to the Department of the Environment, more than 76 million containers have been returned and more than €13m has been refunded in deposits since the scheme went live at the beginning of February. Daily return rates are now reaching between 1.6 million and 2.1 million containers.

Reuse things that would otherwise end up in landfill. Charity shops can be a great resource here — both for finding new homes for things that you no longer need, and for sourcing cheap stuff that you can give a new home to.

Our generation isn’t half as good as earlier ones for repairing and maintaining the stuff we have. It’s so much easier to throw something out and just go buy a new one. When a good item is thrown away, every scrap of its value is lost: the materials in the object, the by-products and waste produced in its construction, the energy and water used in its construction, the fuel used in its transport and even the skill and time of the people involved in its manufacture.

Before you throw it out, take a look and see if someone else might be able to benefit from it. Is it donate-able? Can a broken item be fixed or repurposed?   Repairmystuff.ie is an excellent resource here. It provides a searchable database of repair professionals broken down geographically and by sector.

And if there’s something that you’ve grown out of, there may well be someone out there who’d love to grow into it. If you can’t sell it and it’s getting in the way, freecycle.org is a great way of re-homing unwanted stuff.