AQW 17228/22-27

Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim

Tabled Date: 23/10/2024
Answered On Date: 29/11/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities whether his Department is implementing any measures to prevent food waste in buildings used by his Department or its arm's-length bodies.

Answer:

The majority of my Department’s sites do not have a catering facility and as such, food consumption is generally limited to personal usage, resulting in minimal waste; of the three sites that do offer catering facilities, food waste is managed by the contracted supplier.

My Department promotes Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) food waste reduction initiatives through the dissemination of information published on the internal staff Intranet.

Some of the Arm’s Length Bodies for which my Department is the sponsor body have put in place initiatives to reduce food waste in their buildings. These include separate food waste bins in staff areas and donating surplus food to charities.