What is food waste?
*The European Commission defines food waste as any food that becomes waste under the following conditions:
- It has entered the food supply chain (i.e. post harvesting)
- It then has been removed or discarded from the food supply chain, or at final consumption stage, and
- It is finally destined to be processed as waste
How much food do we waste in Ireland?
The EPA estimates that Ireland generated 835,000 tonnes (t) of food waste[2][3] in 2023.
Irish households threw away an estimated 221,000 tonnes of food (26% of total) in 2023. This includes food waste collected from households, brought to civic amenity sites and disposed in home composters.
This is equal about 120 kg of food waste per household or 43 kg per person (that’s about half the weight of a full brown bin).
Food waste costs the average Irish household about €60 per month or €700 per year. That’s an annual national cost of €1.29 billion
*Source: Food Waste Statistics | Environmental Protection Agency
Saved & Savoured: Supporting Food Waste Prevention
Created with recipes from Carlow chefs and cooks, this community recipe book forms part of Carlow’s food waste awareness programme, providing practical recipes and simple ideas to help reduce food waste at home. Saved & Savoured - Celebrating Carlow's Food without the Waste, is offered alongside food waste workshops facilitated by the Environmental Awareness Officer. Workshops are subject to minimum participant numbers.
Download the Saved & Savoured Recipe Book (PDF) below.
Community Composting Workshops
This community composting initiative brought together local groups across Carlow to develop practical composting skills, reduce food waste and support a circular economy. Through training, workshops and site builds, communities were empowered to turn landscaping waste into a valuable local resource.
Participating groups include:
- Bagenalstown Community Garden
- Carlow Tidy Towns
- Colaiste Andriu Secondary School, Bagenalstown
- Forward Steps Community Garden, Tullow
- Irish Wheelchair Association, Carlow
- Tinryland Community Hub in Collaboration with Tinryland Community Hall
- Tynock Tidy Towns
Reach out to them for more information.
For more food waste resources about reducing food waste, see Stop Food Waste - Reduce your food waste and save yourself money! and Waste Not Want Not Toolkit - VOICE Ireland
Free Food Waste Training for Hospitality & Business
Food waste is a social, environmental and economic catastrophe. Whilst household food waste amounts to a large portion of the overall figures, retail and distribution account for 10%, and restaurants and food services account for 21% of total food waste in Ireland.
It's been estimated that one brown bin of food waste equates in monetary terms to €250.00 per bin.
With that in mind, there are some free resources available to help businesses reduce their food waste. These include:
Savour Food e-Training Certificates. Three courses available, taking 30 minutes each to complete learn.savourfood.ie
The Food Waste Charter. Measuring Food Waste - Food Waste
Chef's Manifesto. Join the Chef's Manifesto
The MODOS Training for a Sustainable Future Training Programme for SMEs is also available through local enterprise offices. Supports and schemes may also be available through the LEAN or Green Mentoring schemes in the Local Enterprise Office.
If you haven't considered it already, why not pledge to tackle food waste this year.