Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) executive director Nerida Kelton has been appointed to the government steering committee devoted to tackling food waste.
The Coalition Government has formed the steering committee to kick-start the recently announced National Food Waste Strategy.
“Food waste has economic, environmental and social implications for all Australians – the estimated cost to our economy is $20 billion per year,” Minister Frydenberg said.
“It's unacceptable that a food rescue organisation is turning away over 65,000 people each month, yet we produce enough food to feed about 60 million people.”
The Food Waste Steering Committee will provide guidance and advice to Food Innovation Australia Limited (FIAL) as it develops a plan in 2018 that clearly sets out the actions to be taken to reduce Australia’s food waste over the short, medium and long term.
Other members include Geoffrey Annison from the Australian Food and Grocery Council; Dr Martin Cole from CSIRO Agriculture and Food; Ronni Kahn of OzHarvest; and Max Spedding of the National Waste and Recycling Industry Council.
“The make-up of the committee recognises that tackling food waste requires a community-wide approach,” Minister Frydenberg said.
“Members’ expertise spans the entire food supply and consumption chain and will help ensure that we meet our goal to halve Australia’s food waste by 2030.”
FIAL’s plan will be accompanied by a voluntary commitment program that will engage businesses and industries to reduce food waste, as well as a National Food Waste Baseline so progress towards the food waste reduction goal can be monitored and tracked.
