Bin collectors link household waste surge to Coronavirus panic buying

While people staying in and working from home during the lockdown would be expected to buy more food than usual – given the closure of restaurants, cafes, delis, work, and school canteens – waste firms say there has been a noticeable rise in the volume of unused food being dumped.

A report from data company Kantar on Monday said that March was the busiest month on record for grocery sales, with fresh food sales up 16 percent.

Greyhound, one of the country’s largest bin collectors with 120,000 customers in Dublin, said it was dealing with “a record 38 percent increase” in brown bin waste since people began working from home in large numbers and restrictions such as restaurant and cafe closures were announced. This equates to more than 200 tonnes extra.

While the brown bins also take garden waste, such as lawn and hedge clippings, Greyhound managing director John Brosnan said there was more unused food being thrown out.

“We are seeing a large increase in unopened food waste, which could be the result of panic buying,” he said.