What is food waste?
Australia’s National Food Waste Strategy adopts a broad and inclusive definition of ‘food waste’ that covers solid or liquid food that is intended for human consumption and is generated across the entire supply and consumption chain.
Examples of food waste include:
- food that is left unharvested in fields on-farm
- produce that does not make it to shelves along the supply chain
- kitchen preparation waste in restaurants, cafes or at home
- food products that are not used before their use-by-date
- uneaten leftovers
- forgotten items in the back of the fridge or cupboard.
Why is reducing food waste important?
Producing food takes time, energy, water and money – if food is sent to landfill, not only does it produce methane as it decays (a greenhouse gas impact more than 28 times greater than carbon dioxide), the resources used to produce that food are also wasted.
Each year around 7.6 million tonnes of food is wasted across the food supply chain in Australia.
This costs the Australian economy around $36.6 billion annually, and accounts for about 3% of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.
In South Australia, food waste makes up approximately 22% of total household waste collected at kerbside by weight and up to 40% of material presented in general waste bins. Food waste accounts for about 26% of commercial and industrial waste streams. Each year 230,000 tonnes of food waste is sent to landfill in South Australia which could instead be diverted into higher value uses.
By processing food waste into compost and soil amendment products, nutrients are returned to the soil to grow new food and support the circular economy.
In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, applying composts to soil provides stable long-term carbon to improve water retention and soil structure, building resilience to the impacts of drought and climate change while keeping nutrients in circulation.
Taking action
Green Industries SA’s strategic priority to recover and process food waste is underpinned by investment in infrastructure and the systems to collect and process organic waste, including food waste.
The Australian Government’s National Food Waste Strategy aims to achieve a 50% reduction in food waste by 2030, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 – ‘By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses’.
Our actions provide a valuable platform to further increase the capture and recovery of material to feed those in need, for processing to replenish soils, and to create new food.
Preventing food wastage reduces household and business expenditure. Diverting organics from landfill:
- lowers landfill costs to councils and, in turn households
- supports local industry and jobs
- reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
The application of composted organics to farmland and horticulture increases the viability of farmland by reducing fertiliser needs, increasing productivity, reducing water and herbicide requirements, improving soil structure and soil micro biota.
