Segmentation of household behavioural types associated with food waste generation in the Republic of Ireland

Despite the growing number of interventions aimed at reducing household food waste (HFW), many remain overly generalised and fail to adequately account for the heterogeneous routines, motivations, and disposal contexts that shape waste generation. This study, therefore, aimed to identify behavioural types in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) based on HFW habits to inform more targeted and effective reduction strategies. Using survey data from 966 households, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering were applied to identify co-disposal patterns of food groups and to segment households into behaviour clusters. The PCA identified four co-disposal patterns, while clustering yielded four household types: High-Spending Disposers (39%), Practical Waste Separators (30%), Time-Conscious Savers (17%), and General Bin Disposers (14%). Mean self-reported HFW generation was 1.1 kg/week. High-Spending Disposers reported the highest waste levels (≈1.8 kg/week), whereas Time-Conscious Savers and Practical Waste Separators reported substantially lower volumes (≈0.5–0.6 kg/week). High-waste households were more likely to be urban and have higher incomes. They also reported more frequent grocery shopping and lower levels of meal planning. In contrast, lower-waste clusters more frequently employed intentional, cost-conscious strategies and included higher proportions of older adults, non-Irish residents, and plant-based consumers. This is the first study that extends prior HFW segmentation research by incorporating disposal channels and revealing co-disposal patterns. Overall, the findings provide an evidence-based foundation for bespoke interventions, such as planning aids for high-waste households or reinforcing existing positive habits for lower-waste groups. It also aligns with the ROI’s Circular Economy Action Plan and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3