Doughnut chain Krispy Kreme has been criticised for dumping a "mountain" of unwanted doughnuts outside one of its stores in Bristol.
Dozens of bags discarded sweet treats were photographed piled-up outside a shop in Avon Meads on Monday morning.
Chris Clewes said he was so disgusted by the "heaps of wasted doughnuts" - he took a picture and posted it online.
Krispy Kreme said there had been a problem with their recycling process which has since been resolved.
Mr Clewes said he had been getting a coffee when he spotted around 50 bags of "waste doughnuts" stacked up on top of a pallet and four large bins.
"I was absolutely flabbergasted. I reckon there were about 200 doughnuts in each bag - if not more," he said.
"I've done some quick maths and I reckon there were about 15,000 doughnuts being wasted there."
Hattie Parke, from the charity FoodCycle in Bristol - which creates community meals from surplus food - said she was not surprised by the "mountain of doughnuts" as firms "put in such strict quality standards".
"We're getting all of this food that's deemed waste but it's not waste, it's food and should be eaten," she said.
"I would like to see Krispy Kreme working with charities to redistribute this food."
Krispy Kreme said it sends its unsold doughnuts to be recycled into "animal feed" but recently it had changed its processes and now takes waste directly to Portbury Docks for recycling.
"Initially, due to the security protocols at the docks, we were unable to gain access this weekend," the spokesperson said.
"As a result the waste in the photograph is from Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This has now been resolved so that our drivers will be able to access the recycling facility over the weekend."
