SUMMARY OF PRESENTATIONS
On 20 November 2017, theMinister for the Environment and Energy, the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, convened the National Food Waste Summit at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and launched the National Food Waste Strategy.
Representatives from across the food supply and consumption chain, including governments, industry, academia and the not-for-profit sector, participated in the summit. A summary of the presentations at the summit are provided below.
FOOD WASTE AND THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Associate Professor, Bernadette McCabe - Principal Scientist (Bioresources and Waste Utilisation), National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture, University of Southern Queensland
Associate Professor McCabe gave a broad overview of the opportunities for circular economy approaches to reduce food waste.
In contrast to Australia’s mostly linear economy, a circular economy is one that is restorative by design. This involves resources being kept in use for as long as possible, and where the maximum value from these resources can be extracted with any unavoidable waste being recovered and regenerated into new products. For example, waste-to-energy technologies provide elegant solutions for food waste management in providing tangible and usable products, including energy and fertiliser, and attractive environmental and social benefits. Prioritising food waste reduction actions according to the waste hierarchy can help achieve circularity.
Several good examples of how industry is already using food waste as a resource were provided. The red meat processing industry was given as an example of some of the most advanced circular economic practices in food waste in Australia. Oakey Beef Exports Queensland were able to realise a return on investment in their anaerobic digestion plant in approximately five years. Yarra Valley Water constructed a waste to energy facility linked to an existing sewage treatment plant in Aurora in Melbourne’s north, which generates enough biogas to run both sites with the surplus energy to be exported to the electricity grid.
The most successful projects were ones in which project proponents didn’t try to do too much, engage too many partners in a project, or engage too widely across the supply chain. Addressing scale means the benefits of circularity in food waste management can extend to regions as well as metropolitan areas.
More information on the work undertaken by Associate Professor McCabe can be found at https://staffprofile.usq.edu.au/Profile/Bernadette-McCabe.
SPOTLIGHT ON BUILDING A DREAM
Mr Angus Harris, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Harris Farm Markets
Mr Harris from Harris Farm Markets shared some insights into his family owned business and how they deal with food waste.
Harris Farm Markets was established Mr Harris’s parents, David and Cathy Harris. The store began from the origins of a chicken farm to a single roadside market, which they grew into multiple stores. The first store was opened in 1971 at Villawood and rapidly expanded to 37 stores across New South Wales by the late 1980s. Not long after the business went into hard times forcing the family to sell most stores, keeping only two. Today, Harris Farm Markets has 26 successful stores around New South Wales.
Reflections on the learnings from the failed venture included management being better equipped to identify financial risks for the business, comprising the ability to understand and respond to changes in the market and how that impacts their business model. In minimising food waste the following approaches are taken.
· Stock rotation techniques
- Fresh fruit and vegetable are ordered from the central office with all stores serviced seven days a week. This ensures that there is enough stock for the retail store and for delivery of online purchases. The store operates on a model that has enough produce for same day delivery on orders received prior to 5 pm.
· The ‘ Imperfect Picks’ range
- Imperfect Picks are Harris Farm Markets’ fresh produce, sold at a reduced price due to its aesthetic appearance, but is as nutritious and fresh as the full priced produce in store.
- Everyone benefits through Imperfect Picks. The oddly shaped produce creates a new revenue stream for farmers, offers consumers fresh and nutritious produce at a reduced price and reduces food waste from farms and retail stores, benefitting pockets and the environment.
· Customers expectation of ‘Perfect Food’
- Historically, Harris Farm Markets started with small displays of the Imperfect Picks range placed at the back of stores. Store management repeatedly found that as customers reached the reduced produce displays, they dumped the full priced produce in preference of the ‘Imperfect Picks’ selection.
- Consumer preference for the Imperfect Picks convinced store management that there was customer demand for this range of produce. Product placement was re-arranged to bring the ‘Imperfect Picks’ to the front of the store.
· Policies in-store to stay competitive
- ‘Get it before it droops’ – never put the price up but reduce price before the produce starts to lose its freshness.
· Harris Farm Markets work with food rescue organisations
- Harris Farm Markets has partnered with food rescue organisations for the last five to six years.
· The largest source of waste at Harris Farm Markets
- Fresh meat. This range of produce has specific and precise expiry dates and is hard to move in time.
More information about Harris Farm Markets can be found at www.harrisfarm.com.au
HARNESSING FOOD WASTE - CASE STUDIES
Mr Dylan Gower
Convenor, Cowra Low Emissions Action Network (CLEAN Cowra Inc.)
Mr Gower gave a local perspective on how to engage a community to use food waste to generate energy and organic fertiliser. CLEAN Cowra operates under a linear resource use framework. They are however mindful of moving to a circular economy approach to exploit the whole of life cycle of their resources. This further benefits local jobs and energy redistribution while reducing the carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions.
CLEAN Cowra Inc has three priority areas to enable the shift from their linear operations to a circular economy: (1) resource recovery through better management of the supply chain; (2) renewable energy generations; and (3) regenerating resources within their agricultural production.
Cowra produces 14,000 tonnes of horticultural produce generating around 4,900 tonnes of waste, equivalent to the depth of two Olympic sized swimming pools. This is around 30-35 percent of lost or rejected produce. The input costs of water, energy, fuel and fertilisers from this wasted produce is estimated between $250 and $1,300 pertonne.
On average, the bigger supermarkets have rejected a cumulative 20-25 percent of produce due to size, appearance, colour, imperfection or contamination. To reduce this waste, Cowra farmers have found alternate sources of revenue by selling ‘out of specification’ produce, such as asparagus, through farmers markets or direct supply to restaurants.
More information about CLEAN Cowra Inc can be found at www.clean.org.au
Kirstin Coote
Team Leader Urban Services, City of Melbourne
Ms Coote provided a short presentation on the Degraves Street Recycling Facility, launched in Melbourne in March 2013, to transform the waste and amenity culture in the café precinct and provide for food waste, cardboard and commingled recycling. The Council has plans to move onto the second phase of the project, building on the lessons learned since the launch of the facility.
The presentation emphasised that localised solutions are key to reducing food waste. From a local government perspective, solutions at this scale mean that waste volumes are a known entity, tangible outcomes can be realised for ratepayers, and the job of raising awareness and educating stakeholders is easier. These benefits mean communities can work together and negate the need for larger-scale, infrastructure-intensive solutions.
Over initiatives by The City of Melbourne that help reduce organic waste include:
· The Love Your Laneway program
· The High Rise Food Waste Project
· The Council Building Project tom improve the sustainability of the City of Melbourne’s own building assets, and
· ‘Food City’ – The City of Melbourne’s Food Policy www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/community/health-support-services/health-services/Pages/food-policy.aspx
More information about the City of Melbourne’s organics initiatives, including the Degraves Street Recycling Facility, can be found at www.melbourne.vic.gov.au
PANEL DISCUSSION: FROM FARM TO PLATE
Primary production - Dr Barry McGookin, General Manager Innovation, Food Innovation Australia Limited (FIAL)
Dr McGookin introduced Food Innovation Australia Limited (FIAL) as the independent organisation charged with implementing the Australian Government’s National Food Waste Strategy. FIAL is an industry-led, not-for-profit organisation focused on growing the share of Australian food in the global marketplace.
The presentation touched on FIAL’s 10 year vision and strategy and how FIAL engages across its three pillars of sharing knowledge, building capacity and creating connections.
FIAL’s work across its four Sector Knowledge Priority Areas - Global Marketplace, Future Consumers, Enhanced Production and Value Addition, and Food Security and Sustainability – were outlined. Examples of projects to value add green bananas and tomato skins were provided.
The opportunities available to industry to seek the support of FIAL in implementing food waste reduction activities were briefly outlined, including:
· The Enterprise Solution Centre – through which up to $100,000 in support is available to connect companies to expertise, technical and/or research advice so that they can find a solution to a technical challenge, and
· The Project Fund – making between $100,000 and $2 million available to businesses in the food and agribusiness sector seeking to solve an innovation problem within their organisation.
More information about FIAL can be found at https://fial.com.au/.
Manufacturing/distribution – Ms Kaelene McLennan, Corporate Affairs, Sustainability and Communications Manager, Simplot Australia Pty Ltd
Ms McLennan discussed the ways in which Simplot Australia, a prominent Australian food manufacturer, is improving sustainability within its organisation by preserving natural resources, using water and energy more efficiently, and minimising waste (including food waste).
Some examples include Simplot’s employee education program in partnership with Cleanaway to gather data and determine an approach forward. Simplot also has 30 employee ambassadors to the New South Wales Environment Protection Agency’s ‘Waste Warriors’ program.
In partnership with Foodbank, Simplot launched a National Food Waste Reduction Program in October 2017. The program aims to reduce food waste both throughout Simplot’s supply chain and within the company’s own operations. In addition to this, Simplot (a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant) runs a RedCycle Soft Plastics Recycling Program, aiming to give consumers an opportunity to return the soft plastics consumed with Simplot products to local authorities for recycling.
The ways in which innovation in bioscience can contribute to reductions in food waste were also outlined. Simplot has developed the ‘Innate Potato’, a genetically-modified crop that is less prone to damage, disease and pests, resulting in fewer potatoes being discarded by consumers.
More information about Simplot Australia can be found at https://www.simplot.com.au/.
Retail/food service - Mr Bryan Skepper, General Manager, Sydney Fish Market Pty Ltd
Mr Skepper shared that the Sydney Fish Market’s purpose is to unite people and the sea. The Sydney Fish Market is jointly owned by the fish industry and the suppliers on site. Produce is sold on an auction system, selling 55,000 tonnes of seafood a day with less than 0.5 percent of product unsold. The Market receives three million visitors per year, with 60 percent of those visitors being from China or greater China.
The biggest challenge with waste management at the Market is kitchen waste and contamination of this waste with other products such as packaging and plastic crockery.
The Market is one market with two missions:
1. Sea to Market – facilitate connections and growth in a vibrant seafood industry
This involves building trusted relationships for mutual business growth, fostering a well-balanced ecosystem that is mutually beneficial, encouraging a sense of responsibility and respect for the environment and people from which business depends, and working together to create equity we all share.
2. Market to Plate – make seafood an inspiring part of local life
This involves getting people close to their food source for freshness and taste, access to a wide range of seafood that is convenient, inspiring people to explore ways that seafood can play a greater role in their lives, and amplify connections and a sense of community through food.
Taking responsibility to better manage the food waste at the Market has been supported. There is a question whether the waste could be used for greater value purposes. Technologies, like those used in New Zealand, that help reduce unwanted fish catch were also touched on.
A new five star green rated carbon neutral building is to be constructed at the Market. The new facility will accommodate key waste management systems (including food waste), solar panel roofs and amenities to collect rain water for re-use.
More information about the Sydney Fish Market can be found at www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au.
Hospitality – Rob Pascoe, Managing Director, Closed Loop Environmental Solutions Pty Ltd
Mr Pascoe introduced the work of his company, Closed Loop Environmental Solutions, to help businesses (particularly in the aviation, hospitality and health sectors) reduce their waste and save money. Mr Pascoe emphasised the critical importance of soil in sustaining life on earth and the significant opportunities for food waste to be utilised to regenerate the condition, quality and volume of topsoil in Australia. On-site food dehydration technology that Closed Loop has provided to businesses to convert their food waste and safely and swiftly into reusable compost was shown. The kitchen garden for Cecconi’s restaurant in Melbourne was provided as an example.
The take away message from the presentation was that the Australian food supply and consumption chain can embrace the circular economy approach. We need to be thinking not just in terms of paddock to plate, but in terms of paddock to plate to paddock.
More information on solutions for the hospitality sector can be found at http://www.closedloop.com.au/case-studies?field_sector_tid=3.
General comments from the open question and answer session
· Ms McLennan: one of the drivers for industry solving the problem of food waste is profitability. For example, there is an incentive to manage food waste more efficiently in order to avoid the ever-increasing costs of waste to landfill.
· Mr Pascoe: business is about sustainability – you can’t be profitable if you’re not sustainable. Consumers know this, are interested in sustainable products and are demanding new solutions. Industry experts aren’t always the best people to be telling industry’s stories, for example, one of the most successful instance of a message cutting through to the broader public came from ABC journalist and entertainer, Mr Craig Reucassel and the War on Waste program.