Food waste reduction projects are to receive almost €180,000 in funding under the Rural Innovation and Development Fund, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has announced.

Minister McConalogue said the projects would “contribute to our commitment to reduce the amount of food we waste in accordance with the United Nations sustainable development goals, including SDG 12.3, which calls on all nations to halve food waste and reduce food loss by 2030".

“These initiatives will further enhance the work previously funded to identify, target and address what is a rapidly growing issue not just here in Ireland but globally.

“Ireland generates over 1m tonnes of food waste each year. It is now more important than ever to continue to develop initiatives to help to address this issue.”

Funding has been made available to the following projects: Clean Technology Centre, Cork Institute of Technology (CTC-CIT) - €59,900; Food Cloud - €59,400; Foodie Save - €28,700; and Carlow County Council - €32,000.