CTC has been commissioned by the EPA to carry out a food waste related project entitled: Reducing Commercial Food Waste in Ireland. This will be funded under the EPA Research Progamme.
This project will explore the sources and, most importantly, the reasons for Commercial Food Waste (CFW) generation in Ireland. CFW is a significant part of the municipal waste stream in Ireland and, while there is some information on the main food waste producing sectors, much of this is extracted from larger data sets and provides little or no specific information. However, in order to identify potential prevention opportunities, it is first necessary to determine the actual sources and reasons for commercial food waste, (e.g. plate waste, preparation waste, out of date food, etc.).
This project aims to provide this key information in terms of CFW generation in Ireland, and will examine individual sectors and food waste types, along with potential best practices, and innovative solutions, for its reduction. Individual locations, as well as sectoral organisations and companies within the identified sub-sectors in Ireland will be worked with. CTC will examine the reasons behind CFW and trial and assess interventions to prevent and reduce CFW amounts. Benchmarks and Best Practice Guidelines will be prepared based on the project outcomes and then disseminated. Long term intervention initiatives/programmes will be identified where feasible. A detailed report will be produced at the end of this project which will contain an overview of the findings, a series of benchmarks as well as quantified sectoral interventions. In addition, policy recommendations for the individual sectors will be made based on the findings of the research work and consultation with the relevant stakeholders during the course of the project.
The project commences March 1st, 2016 and will run for 30 months.
To learn more about this project or to provide input, contact Colum Gibson, CTC.