The NSW Government is committing $4.6 million in new grants to help businesses and food rescue organisations tackle food waste and save more edible food from landfill.
The funding has been awarded to organisations that can make the most impact to reduce the 1.7 million tonnes of food that is wasted each year in NSW.
Reducing food waste allows the support of people who are facing food insecurity while reducing our greenhouse gas emissions from landfill.
Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, Penny Sharpe, said the statistic that 70 per cent of wasted food is still edible must be turned around.
“It’s not about just reducing waste but rethinking how we value and use the food we have,” said Sharpe.
“This funding will help food rescue charities by giving them better infrastructure to take more donated and rescued food.
“It will also make sure businesses, hospitals, councils and other institutions are upskilling their networks to avoid food waste and increase their donations and recycling – helping to save nearly 600,000 tonnes of food waste every year.”
Under the first round of the new Food Rescue Grants, nearly $3 million has been given to support 20 charities and community organisations to rescue more surplus or donated food and deliver it to people in need across NSW.
Recipients include larger state-wide organisations like FoodBank, OzHarvest and SecondBite as well as community-based organisations fighting food insecurity across Sydney and in regional centres like Dubbo, Albury and Wollongong.
The grants will be used to enhance and expand food rescue infrastructure, helping organisations to buy bigger trucks and fridges and employ more people to save edible food and feed the vulnerable in NSW.
At the same time, $1.66 million has been awarded through the first round of Business Food Waste Partnerships Grants to help peak bodies, sector leaders and councils work together to find opportunities to stop food from going to waste.
Thanks to this funding, Sydney Children’s Hospitals, the NSW Department of Education, organisations in the Hunter and Riverina, and a range of hospitality and winery businesses will leverage their partnerships to improve their focus on food waste avoidance and recycling.