Food Waste in Our Homes

When we throw food or other rubbish in the bin it is out of sight and usually out of mind. Here are some interesting facts about household waste in Ireland:

• The average Irish household throws out just under 1 tonne of rubbish each year. This includes all waste and is around the weight of a small car. That means we are throwing out the equivalent of 1.6 million small cars worth of rubbish each year.

• Currently we are recycling just under 50% of this. That means that each household is still throwing 1/2 tonne of rubbish into landfills each year, or 800,000 small cars worth of rubbish landfilled annually!

• Of the waste that goes to landfill almost 40% is organic waste, the majority of which is food waste. Another 30% is different recyclable materials.

So, if we managed to prevent some of this food waste going to landfill as well as recycled more and composted at home we could reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill by at least 50%. That’s the same as 400,000 less cars worth of rubbish going into landfills throughout Ireland each year!