 Eliminating this food waste would have the same effect as reducing CO2 equivalent emissions by 325,975 tonnes – equivalent to planting 130,390 trees or taking 118,107 cars off the road for a year.This research was repeated in 2018 with the rubbish bins of 600 households audited.The study found that on average, New Zealand households were throwing away 3.15 kg of food a week via their domestic kerbside collection.