Dáil debates

Tuesday, 18 December 2018

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Food Waste

6:10 pm

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

59. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the steps which can be taken to reduce food waste, particularly in supermarkets. [53196/18]

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Minister will be aware that more than 1 million tonnes of food waste are disposed of each year in Ireland. In recognition of the 2015 agreement on the United Nations sustainable development goals and the EU circular economy package, the previous Minister indicated that he wished to promote food waste prevention at a national level. I would like the Minister to outline the steps that can be taken to minimise food waste, particularly in our supermarkets.

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Globally, one third of all food produced for human consumption is estimated to be wasted each year. Per household, food waste is thought to cost €700 per annum in Ireland. Our ambition is to halve that by 2030. In Ireland, we waste close to 1 million tonnes of food every year. About a third of that arises in retail and catering, with a somewhat smaller share of waste accounted for by consumers and a somewhat larger share coming from producers. While supermarkets are directly responsible for the disposal of only 2% of food waste, their influence across the supply chain from farm to fork makes them central actors in combating our national food waste problem.

Recognising this, my Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, sought to involve major supermarkets in our efforts to reduce food waste. Aldi, BWG Foods, Lidl, Musgrave and Tesco have all participated in my Department’s action group on food waste. This has involved signing up to the food waste charter, promising to stop food waste, and signing up to the FoodCloud food donation network. I visited FoodCloud's premises lately. It is astounding to see how much food is saved through that mechanism. Participants in the food waste action group will also implement the collection and sharing of food waste data. I believe we can build on this foundation with further initiatives with the sector to encourage better practices by producers and consumers all along the food chain.

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I welcome the steps taken by the Department to work with these retailers to tackle or reduce food waste. The Minister of State mentioned retailers signing a food waste charter and agreeing to a food waste policy. A lot of that appears to be based on voluntary codes. Does the Minister of State feel that is adequate or is regulation needed in this area?

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The agreements in place at the moment are effective. We have to keep monitoring them. When I visited the FoodCloud facility here in Dublin and saw the amount of food that is distributed from there every day, it opened my eyes to the amount of food that would otherwise be thrown in the bin. We will also be changing thinking, through education in both national and secondary schools, about food waste and how it should be dealt with. Our approach works from the bottom up. We are going to get this sorted out. Deputies should remember that €700 of waste is generated per household each year. If a household saved half of that, it would be a saving worth €350. It is so tangible and simple. People have to think. Education is one part of it. Several steps have been taken in that regard. The EPA and local authorities are running campaigns online and on the ground to equip households.

There is a number of initiatives. Education, not regulation, is the way to go.

6:20 pm

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State's response. Government could do more. I welcome the initiatives that are taken to encourage citizens. There is a great awareness out there among citizens but we could encourage citizens and retailers to put a more serious effort into tackling this issue.

I agree that education is the way to go. Education played a key role in the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle campaign a number of years ago. The children led the way on that. Education certainly is a good step forward in tackling this.

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To give the Deputy some figures, according to the EPA, 60% of food waste is avoidable waste, such as leftovers and gone-off fruit and vegetables, 20% is potentially avoidable, such as bread crusts and potato skins, and 20% is unavoidable, such as chicken bones and fruit and vegetable peelings. We need to educate in this regard.

I note the following initiatives. Stop Food Waste, which is a website campaign, provides expert resources aimed at householders and communities. Stop Food Waste Challenges are community-based initiatives. The website mywaste.ieis a recently launched website and media campaign which provides answers to specific householder queries. A specific Christmas-focused campaign will be launched across Ireland through social media, this week and next week.