'We all have a role to play in reducing food waste - Minister Charlie McConalogue

Separating food waste is a positive climate action that we can all make. That's the message as Donegal County Council prepares to join the activities planned for National Food Waste Recycling Week 

An awareness campaign will run from June 5-11 and is being supported by the council. This campaign, managed by MyWaste.ie will provide practical advice, with easy-to-follow hints and tips to encourage everyone to recycle more of their food waste.

This year, the aim is to ensure that people understand that food waste needs to be fully separated from all packaging such as plastic or other containers to prevent contamination at the compost and anaerobic digestion facilities leading to higher-quality recycling.

The council will be hosting a number of events where attendees will receive a food waste caddy, each with a starter pack of caddy liners as well as free compost for their gardens (pending availability) together with an information leaflet on how to recycle food waste at home. The dates and venues are as follows:

June 6 at 10am - 12pm in Letterkenny Recycling Centre

June 6 at 2pm - 4pm in Dungloe Recycling Centre

June 7 at 10am - 12pm in Carndonagh Recycling Centre

June 7 at 2pm - 4pm in Milford Recycling Centre

June 7 at 10.30am - 12.30pm in Laghey Recycling Centre

June 7 at 2pm - 4pm in Stranorlar Recycling

In Ireland, we waste about 800,000 tonnes of food each year, according to current best estimates.  Growing, processing and transporting food uses a huge amount of resources, such as land, water, energy and fertiliser.

If food is wasted, these resources are wasted too. The Environmental Protection Agency EPA estimates that 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.

The overall aim of the campaign is to generate awareness of the role of food waste recycling in diverting this valuable resource from landfill and allowing it to be transformed into renewable energy and fertilisers for horticulture and agriculture use in Ireland.

This will have a lasting impact as it will create green jobs here now and into the future. The campaign is being managed by Ireland’s three regional waste management planning offices and funded by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.

Properly recycled food waste can be used to produce energy through anaerobic digestion and to produce clean, organic fertiliser.

Role To Play

Donegal TD and  Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has also thrown his weight behind National Food Waste Recycling Week.

“This National Food Waste Recycling Week my message to everyone is straightforward. We all have a role to play in reducing food waste. It benefits our local environment, can help us reach our climate targets, helps us show our farmers, fishers and food producers that we value their products and of course, it can help us save money on our grocery bills."

He added: "Working together with colleagues in government we are committed to our global climate targets and protecting our local environment. There is a wealth of information on how every household can reduce their food waste at MyWaste.ie and I encourage everyone to consider trying out some of their practical ideas that can help you to play your part.”

From January 1, 2024, under new national legislation to be introduced later this year all waste management companies will be obliged to provide food waste recycling bins for compostable material which will radically improve Ireland’s management of food waste.

This campaign is focused on continuing to educate people on what can be put into their food waste recycling bins. It will highlight the importance of separating waste food from its packaging to ensure we reduce contamination and achieve high-quality recycling. This is good for the Irish environment as it is a closed production process and supports our circular economy.”

For more information on the National Food Waste Recycling Week 2023 and to check local events, see www.mywaste.ie/national-food-waste-recycling-week/