Reducing Australia’s food waste

Food waste is food intended for human consumption which is then thrown away. It includes food items that are recycled to make compost.

Food is wasted at every point along the food supply and consumption chain. This includes food waste from:

• farms
• processing and transport
• hospitality operators
• supermarkets
• households.

Australia’s problem with food waste

Food waste is a major problem in Australia. It has significant environmental and economic impacts. The National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study reported that:

• Food waste costs the Australian economy around $36.6 billion each year.
• Each year Australians waste around 7.6 million tonnes of food across the food supply chain. This equals about 312kg per person and can cost up to $2,500 per household per year.
• Food waste accounts for about 3% of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.
• Australia uses around 2,600 gigalitres of water to grow food that is wasted. This equals the volume of water in 5 Sydney Harbours.
• The amount of land used to grow wasted food in Australia covers more than 25 million hectares. This is a landmass larger than the state of Victoria.
• As a sector, households generate the most food waste in Australia and are responsible for about 30% of the total. This equals around 2.5 million tonnes per year.

The food waste challenge

Reducing food waste is a complex challenge. The solution must consider how to reduce food waste across different parts of the supply chain, from farms to retailers. Food service settings and our own households also play an important role.

The choices individuals make have an impact on how much food waste we produce. These choices are influenced by people’s attitudes and behaviours towards food. Targeted behaviour-change interventions are therefore also a key part of the solution.

There are opportunities to further reduce food waste by:

• effectively redistributing surplus food to Australians in need
• repurposing potential food waste for use in other products.

Our role

Australia’s National Food Waste Strategy sets a goal to halve the country’s food waste by 2030. The strategy sets out a framework to support action to meet this target.

We are working across the entire food chain and all levels of government to deliver the National Food Waste Strategy. We are also collaborating with Stop Food Waste Australia to help with its delivery.

The strategy contributes to global action on food waste by aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12. This goal aims to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Read more

Contact us

For more information, please contact us at foodwaste@dcceew.gov.au