Sustainable
Programmes
& Resources
for our
Hospitality
Industry
in Galway
Programmes & Resources
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Galway City Council Use your Mug Circular Economy -in Ireland, every year we dispose of 200 Million coffee cups, that’s a whopping 560,000 each day going to landfill or incineration! There are huge environmental consequences with this in terms of litter, waste and climate. 10 Cafes in the City are leading the way in bringing about a local circular economy with coffee cups and are only selling drinks from the deposit scheme 2GoCups. This is the first time that it has been trialled on such a scale in an Irish City and we are looking forward to sharing our findings with other cafes and indeed other Local Authorities.’’
The Conscious Cup Campaign - is an initiative that seeks to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of disposable cups in Ireland. The campaign hopes to increase the use of reusable cups, by encouraging restaurants and cafes along with other outlets to incentivise this through discounts and loyalty schemes. A number of cafes and restaurants in the region participate in this initiative
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Composting & Food Waste Management in Galway
Ireland operates a highly regulated national food‑waste collection system, and Galway fully implements this through its commercial waste‑management requirements. All hotels, venues, restaurants, and event suppliers in Galway must separate food waste and present it to a licensed waste collector, ensuring that no commercial food waste goes to landfill.
Collected food waste is processed through industrial composting or anaerobic digestion (AD), supporting Ireland’s circular‑economy goals and renewable‑energy production. While a small number of rural hotels with extensive grounds operate their own composting systems, city‑centre composting is not encouraged due to space, hygiene, and regulatory constraints.
Guidance for Event Organisers & Visitors
Visitors and event organisers can reduce their food‑waste impact in Galway by:
Choosing venues with certified food‑waste separation systems
Planning menus to minimise surplus food
Donating safe surplus food through FoodCloud
Using reusable serviceware and avoiding single‑use items
Asking suppliers about their composting or AD partnerships
Publicly Available Performance Data
Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes regular reports on food‑waste generation, composting, and AD performance. These reports provide transparent national data on waste diversion and environmental outcomes.
EPA Food Waste & Circular Economy Reports (Visitors and organisers can use these to understand Ireland’s national performance.)
How You Can Help
Bring a reusable coffee cup
Choose restaurants with food‑waste separation
Avoid over‑ordering
Support venues using compostable packaging
Use MyWaste.ie to find local recycling and composting information
This is Ireland’s official waste‑information portal and is perfect evidence.
Food‑waste reduction and circular‑economy actions are also supported through the Galway County Climate Action Plan 2024–2029, which promotes responsible consumption and waste‑management practices across the region.
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Savour Food is a support programme for Irish food service businesses. The core aim of Savour Food is to help businesses reduce food waste and save money. In Ireland, the food service sector (incl. hotels and restaurants) wastes about 100,000 tonnes of food waste every year, costing an estimated €270 million!
Wasting food wastes all of the resources that went in to producing it. This includes everything from the fertiliser the farmer used and the packing while it was in transit, to the gas or electricity you or the chef used to cook it. While businesses and households are throwing away food everyday, 8% of Irish people are at risk of food poverty.
The programme, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is implemented by the Clean Technology Centre (CTC) at Munster Technological University (formerly Cork Institute of Technology). CTC has been providing innovative and effective resource efficiency solutions since 1992 and is Ireland’s leading organisation for food waste prevention. https://savourfood.ie/about/
Stop Food Waste is the national campaign to give you information and tips on how to make the most of your food and avoid food waste.
Reducing food waste is an easy action you can take to save money, time and lessen your impact on the environment. Tips and resources are suitable to use at home and in a commercial setting.
Too Good To Go - Food Waste App
This is a new entry into Ireland in mid 2021 and is supported by the Irish Restaurant Federation. We were really excited to share this new app with our hotels and restaurants in Galway.
How it works - Every day, delicious, fresh food goes to waste at cafes, restaurants, hotels, shops and manufacturers - just because it hasn’t sold in time. The Too Good To Go app lets you buy and collect this food - at a great price - so it gets eaten instead of wasted. You won’t know exactly what’s in your order until you pick it up - it’s all part of the surprise. Download the app to get started
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Plant based healthy options- as consumers knowledge and food/ diet requirements become more varied hotels need to satisfy these needs on their menus. A resource recommended to the industry is the company plant based ireland Cultural, dietary and allergy restrictions and communicated by the food safety authority Ireland. Food businesses must declare the presence of food allergens used as ingredients in their foods. In this section you will find the EU list of 14 allergens that must be declared and how to provide the information. All hotels list allergens on their menus.
For more info click here
Vegetarian or Vegan Restaurants can promote themselves by being listed here
Vegan Restaurants in Ireland (happycow.net)
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There are two programmes in Ireland one ran by the Irish Hotel Federation and Repak and the second called GreenMark by Green Hospitality.
Both programmes are targeted at the hotel sector on a national basis and promoted by all parties – these support the EU Single Plastics Directive and the GREENMark programme additionally supports the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative. . **There are over 38 hotels in Galway who are members of REPAK our national recycling company. Click here for more info on Repak Programme and here for the GREENMark Programme
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Origin Green is the worlds' only national food and drink sustainability programme, enabling the industry to set and achieve measurable sustainability targets that respect the environment and serve local communities more effectively.
Origin Green programme covers the food service Industry with the main food suppliers to our restaurant industry all being members assuring all the food supplied is produced sustainably. The Green Origin Charter or programme offers the following to our restaurants/food service industry
The Retail & Foodservice Charter offers the following:
• A clear structure to enable tracking and reporting of progress towards short, medium and long term sustainability goals.
• A vehicle to demonstrate sustainability commitments to key customers and consumers. • An independently verified programme to demonstrate the company’s sustainability achievements.
• An organisational focus on delivering continuous improvement.
https://www.origingreen.ie
Local Produce at its best - BIA INNOVATOR Campus - This is a new campus currently near construction completion it will be a innovation centre for food where new start ups can go to grow their business and move from the kitchen table into a commercial enterprise, also suitable for SME who want to grow and training agencies all working with our local suppliers the campus BIA's outward looking focus BIA Innovator Campus has an outward looking focus from the outset. Building on Galway’s EU Region of Gastronomy designation in 2018, we are partnered in interesting EU Transfer of Innovation projects, both working to have a transformational impact on the food sector and those who work in it.
https://biainnovatorcampus.ie/
Michelin Green Star Programme Only 3 restaurants in the republic of Ireland have achieved the Green Michelin star and all of these are in Galway. The Michelin Green Star highlights restaurants at the forefront of the industry when it comes to their sustainable practices. They hold themselves accountable for both their ethical and environmental standards, and work with sustainable producers and suppliers to avoid waste and reduce or even remove plastic and other non-recyclable materials from their supply chain. These restaurants offer dining experiences that combine culinary excellence with outstanding eco-friendly commitments and are a source of inspiration both for keen foodies and the hospitality industry as a whole.
See Galway Restaurants Here
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Our Local Enterprise Offices offer a free programme called Green for Micro it is specifically aimed at Small enterprises including food industry and restaurants its programme offers the following benefits to restaurants Increased cost savings Improved resource efficiency (for example: using less energy, water and materials) Reduced environmental footprint and greenhouse gas emissions Opportunities for higher and additional value on products and services Increased access to customers, improved corporate image Increased resilience to climate change impacts.
Galway Convention Bureau Eco Label Certification and Audit Programme
This is an annual 3rd party certification programme.
The programme is facilitated by Green Hospitality Ireland. The certifications food module trains hotels on how to use sustainable food practices and create a more circular economy among all aspects of achieving a 3rd party accreditation. Restaurants and agencies are also welcome to participate in this programme too. For More Info contact info@galwayconventionbureau.com
Green Training for the Hospitality Industry with 50 shades greener. We are collaborating with the Education Training Boards of Ireland to offer FREE training to Irish Hospitality businesses, this project is fully funded by SOLAS, to register your interest click the button below.
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GAP Galway Autism Partnership is also a new initiative open to locals and visitors. A community-based Charity providing services & support to autistic people and their families living in Galway city and County. Our membership consists of autistic children and adults, parents, family members, teachers, volunteers and those working in partnership with the autistic community. www.galwayautismpartnership.com