Released by OzHarvest and Circular Australia, A Circular Economy for Food: Priority Government Interventions to Reduce Food Waste is a new report drawing on insights from 40 food supply chain stakeholders, including many members of our Taskforce.

Right now, Australia wastes the equivalent of 29 million meals every day, while 3.5 million households experience food insecurity. That waste costs the economy $36.6 billion a year and generates 17.5 million tonnes of CO2-e emissions.

The report finds that relatively little of Australia’s waste or diverted food resources reaches the highest-value circular economy outcomes: less than 1% is redistributed for human consumption and only around 5% is reprocessed into new food products, despite these pathways retaining the greatest economic, environmental and social value.

The report sets out 10 practical, achievable interventions for the Federal Government to prevent food waste at the source, recover surplus food for people first, and build the markets and infrastructure Australia needs for a genuine circular food system.