Over 4,000 Householders benefit from MyWaste.ie’s Food Waste Separation Roadshow
More than 4,000 households have benefited from MyWaste.ie’s Food Waste Separation Road Show which visited 11 locations across the country in November and December this year.
As part of the roadshow MyWaste.ie’s Food Waste Separation Teams travelled to some of Ireland’s largest towns, met with shoppers, and handed out free household food waste separation kitchen caddy packs with some easy-to-follow advice. The food waste separation packs contained a free kitchen caddy, a starter pack of caddy liners and an information leaflet.
MyWaste.ie, Ireland’s official website for guidance on managing waste, coordinated the roadshow after a Food Waste Recycling Pilot Project published in 2020 demonstrated an increase of between 20 and 25% in food waste tonnage presented, while contamination decreased by more than 56%. In relation to the caddy and liners, as many as 81% of respondents included in this pilot project found the caddy enormously helpful.
Sinead Ni Mhainnin, spokesperson for MyWaste.ie explained that this year’s roadshow gave valuable insight into people’s willingness to segregate their food waste properly once armed with the correct information and equipment. “The use of food waste separation caddy packs, and ongoing correct segregation of food waste has the potential to significantly improve household waste recycling rates. We are confident that food waste segregation will be enhanced due to the circulation of these food waste separation caddy packs,” she said.
Minister of State with special responsibility for Communications and Circular Economy, Ossian Smyth TD said, “Food waste can create emissions, adding to climate change. But we can limit this harm by separating food from other waste. These food waste caddy packs make it easier for people at home to manage their food waste.”
Given the success of the recent roadshow event, plans are now being developed to roll out further food waste separation awareness campaigns in the future. As many as 300,000 packs will be funded by the Government over the next 2 years to support these campaigns.
Photographed at the MyWaste.ie Food Separation Road Show in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan were Percy Foster, Cre, Minister Ossian Smyth, Anthony Mulleady, Chair, Irish Waste Management Association, Angela Ruttledge, VOICE, Declan Breen, EMR, Sinead Ni Mhainnin, CUR.
The Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA) has also committed to all new household customers signing up to a waste collection service receiving a food waste separation kitchen caddy pack from IWMA affiliated waste collectors from the beginning of 2022.
The Food Waste Separation Roadshow initiative was co-ordinated by the Regional Waste Management Planning Offices, supported by the IWMA, Environmental Protection Agency, Cré (Composting & Anaerobic Digestion Association of Ireland), and the local authorities, and funded by the Department of the Environment, Climate & Communications. The road show visited Arklow, Limerick, Navan, Clonmel, Birr, Portlaoise, Wexford, Letterkenny, Belturbet, Ballymun and Carrickmacross.
The Food Waste Recycling Pilot Project published in 2020 is available at:
To find out more information on food waste management and to have all your waste related questions answered log on to www.mywaste.ie
For more information about preventing food waste visit www.stopfoodwaste.ie
