Irish adults waste more than €370 worth of food a year, survey finds

While 30% of people say they throw food away every week, 15% say they discard food every two-to-three days. File picture

Irish adults are wasting up to €374 worth of food a year, with a quarter of us putting our annual food waste costs as high as €500-€1,000, a new survey has found.

Furthermore, a third of people regularly admit to binning food too, according to the survey of 1,000 adults conducted ahead of National Stop Food Waste Day this Saturday.

The campaign led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comes after it previously said Ireland generates around 750,000 tonnes of food waste every year across primary production, manufacturing, retail, food services, and households.

This contributes significantly to global greenhouse emissions, and combatting food waste can be a critical climate action. Under the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, Ireland is aiming to halve food waste by 2030.

The new survey found that while a majority of Irish adults (73%) are aware of their own food waste, the challenge is translating awareness into action.

The main reason we want to reduce food waste is to save money, as was cited by three-quarters of people, but over a third (36%) are also motivated by the environmental effects of reducing food waste.

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While 30% of people say they throw food away every week, 15% say they discard food every two-to-three days.

The most commonly wasted foods are bread and bakery items at 42.4% with a significant portion of those items ending up in the bin. A further 40.2% of people said fresh food produce like fruit and vegetables also get thrown out.

The reasons people cited for wasting food ranged from simply forgetting the item was there in the fridge or cupboard (31%) and impulse buying (27%) to not checking the cupboards before shopping (23.6%).

Meanwhile, over two-thirds (68%) of people said they were interested in resources to help reduce waste.

While households need to change their habits, the EPA has said they generate less than a third (29%) of food waste in Ireland with such waste also coming from sectors such as retail and restaurants.

Furthermore, the EPA has said that a large proportion of Ireland’s food waste continues to be disposed of in mixed waste bins rather than the proper brown bins. Under EU law, the separate collection of biowaste was due to be made mandatory at the end of last year.

Too Good to Go, which connects consumers with local businesses offering surplus food at a reduced price, said policymakers and retailers should work at making surplus food more accessible across the country.

“Food waste is not just bad for our wallets — it’s bad for the planet,” Too Good to Go’s Machaela O’Leary said. “This research shows that many Irish households are unintentionally throwing away hundreds of euros worth of food each year.

“The good news is that small changes can make a big difference.”