Why we need to reduce food waste
Food waste, whether it be food that never leaves the farm, food that is lost during transport, or food that is wasted from the hospitality sector and households, has significant economic and environmental impacts:
- One third of the world's food is wasted.
- 25% of water used in agriculture is used to grow food that is ultimately wasted – throwing away one burger wastes the same amount of water as a 90 minute shower.
- Food waste produces eight per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. If food waste was a country it would be the third largest greenhouse gas emitter, behind the USA and China.
Food waste is also a major problem in Australia. The National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study produced by Food Innovation Australia Limited reported that:
- Food waste costs the economy around $36.6 billion each year.
- Each year we waste around 7.6 million tonnes of food across the supply and consumption chain – this wastage equals about 312kg per person, equivalent to around one in five bags of groceries or $2,000 to $2,500 per household per year.
- Food waste accounts for approximately 3% of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.
- Australia uses around 2600 gigalitres of water to grow food that is wasted – this equates to the volume of water in five Sydney Harbours.
- The amount of land used to grow wasted food covers in excess of 25 million hectares, a landmass larger than the state of Victoria.
What is the Australian Government doing about it?
Australia has set a goal to halve its food waste by 2030, aligning with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12.3.
Actions to be undertaken to reduce food waste are laid out in the National Food Waste Strategy, Roadmap and the National Waste Policy Action Plan.
Some of these actions include:
- Establishing Stop Food Waste Australia to support the National Food Waste Strategy
- A $4 million investment to establish Stop Food Waste Australia, which will implement the Australian Food Pact, sector actions plans, and other initiatives to reduce food waste across the supply chain.
- Developing the Australian Food Pact voluntary agreement for industry
- The Australian Food Pact brings together organisations from all parts of the food chain to identify solutions to reduce food waste and increase productivity
- Diverting more food to the food rescue sector
- Redistributing food that would otherwise be wasted will help feed the more than one in five Australians who do not have adequate access to food
- Support for education campaigns
- Increasing public awareness about the scale of the food waste problem and its negative impacts is an important part of reducing food waste, particularly in households
- Research and technological improvements
- Investment in agricultural efficiency and innovation, waste treatment infrastructure, and ways to create value from food waste will reduce the amount of food waste ending up in landfill
Australian Government’s role
- Provide national guidance and plans for reducing food waste.
- Support and encourage state, territory and local governments to continue work on food waste programs and policies.
- Conduct national waste reporting to consolidate key national waste and recycling information, including food waste data, from the states and territories.
