The report was prepared by OzHarvest, Circular Australia, and KPMG, and calls on the government to make 10 priority reforms to improve food security and reduce wastage. Photo: Screenshot.
A new report which highlights the high amount of edible food that goes to waste and calls for major reforms has been handed to Federal Parliament.
Compiled by OzHarvest, Circular Australia and KPMG, the report found that less than one per cent of surplus edible food is redistributed, while 43 per cent of food goes to waste. All this while as many as 3.5 million Australian households are currently experiencing food insecurity.
The report says food waste represents one of the largest and most visible inefficiencies within Australia’s economy. It found that each year, about 7.6 million tonnes of food – or 29 million meals per day – are wasted in Australia, despite the significant investments required to grow, process, transport and sell food.
It further found that the cost to the economy of this wastage is about $36.6 billion annually, and has a carbon impact of 17.5 million tonnes or about 3.5 per cent of Australia’s national CO2-e emissions.
As a result, the report has called on the Federal Government to adopt 10 priority reforms to arrest the wastage. These include:
- Address the contribution of cosmetic standards to fresh produce food waste
- Improve date labelling and storage advice
- Fund food waste reduction programs for households nationally
- Introduce a tax offset for food donation for farmers and introduce a Farm-Gate Surplus Food Rescue Program
- Require large food businesses to develop a surplus food and food waste management plan
- Strengthen national food rescue and relief infrastructure
- Support upcycling enterprises in transforming surplus food into new food products
- Support the nationwide rollout of mandatory source separation of food waste
- Explore recognition of food surplus redistribution within the ACCU Scheme
- Establish a nationally consistent surplus food and food waste data collection and reporting system.
It says valuable resources, including water, land, energy, and labour are invested in producing food, much of which is subsequently discarded due to overproduction, over-purchasing, and entrenched disposal habits. On top of that, much of the discarded food ends up in landfill which generates greenhouse gas emissions and has other environmental impacts.
The report says enough edible food to make 29 million meals per day is instead wasted. Photo: Screenshot.
OzHarvest CEO James Goth says his organisation sees two sides of what he calls a broken system every day.
“We rescue good food that would otherwise go to landfill, and deliver it to people who need it,” he said.
“Food waste and food insecurity are both symptoms of how Australia grows, moves and values food.
“Fixing just one part of the problem won’t solve it, which is why systems change sits alongside rescue, relief and education at the heart of OzHarvest’s mission – turning on-ground observations into policy solutions to make prevention, redistribution and recovery the easiest choices across the food supply chain.
“This report sets out priority interventions to make sure more of the surplus food Australia already diverts from landfill reaches its highest-value use: feeding people,” he added.
“These interventions also support government commitments to halve food waste by 2030 and to double circularity by 2035. We’ve built a movement on rescuing what shouldn’t be wasted, and we hope this report will help encourage Australia to waste less and nourish more.”
Circular Australia’s CEO Lisa McLean said the report set out to demonstrate that the barriers to a circular food system were solvable.
“The 10 interventions within this report can drive a more sustainable future for all Australians – by doing more to reduce food waste,” she said.
“We show what a circular economy for food looks like. It is a food system built on the three circular economy principles – designing out food waste before it happens, keeping surplus food in the economy, and on people’s plates, for as long as possible, and using unavoidable food waste to regenerate the natural systems our food supply depends on and create valuable resources.
“Food is one of the priority sectors in Australia’s Circular Economy Framework,” she added.
“Our report shows how halving food waste by 2030, strengthening food security for the millions of Australians who need it, and building the measurement and market foundations will help deliver an Australian circular economy by 2035.”
