Halving food waste by 2030

Each year, over seven million tonnes of food is wasted in Australia, costing the economy an estimated $20 billion. At the same time, more than 1 in 5 Australians have experienced some form of food insecurity.

In 2017, the Australian Government released the National Food Waste Strategy, which included a national target to halve Australia’s waste by 2030. This commitment received the support of all of Australia’s environment ministers.

Last month,  Food Innovation Australia Limited (FIAL) released the Roadmap for Reducing Australia’s Food Waste by Half by 2030. The Roadmap delivers a clear pathway for achieving the 50% reduction, recognising the current challenges and efforts.

The Roadmap sets out the short, medium to long-term actions needed to support reductions in food waste, including a Voluntary Commitment Program. This Target, Measure, Act approach has been successful all over the world in helping agri-food businesses to better understand and reduce their waste.

Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, Trevor Evans MP, welcomed the release of the Roadmap, setting the direction for all levels of government, industry and other key stakeholders to reduce Australia’s food waste.

“The Roadmap is a positive step forward as we work to achieve our national goal of halving the amount of food going to landfill by 2030 – this is undoubtedly an ambitious goal and to achieve it, we need everyone to play their part,” he said.

“The food rescue sector plays an important role in ensuring food that’s perfectly edible doesn’t go to landfill, and instead is diverted to Australians experiencing food shortages. So I am very pleased to see the four major food rescue and relief organisations working collaboratively together to achieve these objectives”.

To hear more on the topic, view below Amanda Kane, Assistant Director, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment’s 2019 AWRE presentation where she talks about the potential challenges ahead in achieving the 2030 target. Drawing on data, findings and lessons from delivery of the $105 million Organics Infrastructure Fund under Waste Less, Recycle More over seven years. The program found key learnings to inform the Roadmap for Reducing Australia’s Food Waste by Half by 2030 and has transformed the landscape for food waste recovery in NSW.