Restaurants and food services generated about 181,000 tonnes of food waste in Ireland in 2024, up 3%, or roughly 6,000 tonnes, on 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates.
That represents approximately 26% of the estimated 708,000 tonnes across Ireland’s five food-supply-chain sectors. The 2024 figures are preliminary estimates: they remain subject to further validation after submission to Eurostat and may be revised.
The category covers food waste collected from hotels, B&Bs, pubs, restaurants, cafés, takeaways and canteens—not restaurants alone. The combined increase does not establish that waste rose in every type of venue.
The definition also matters for prevention. EPA food-waste totals include inedible parts such as bones and fruit cores, so the sector’s tonnage cannot be treated as an amount of edible food that could all have been saved.
For an operator assessing a prevention measure, a like-for-like comparison of its own measured waste before and after the change would be more relevant than the national trend.
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