The Federal Government has announced a $1.2 million program to tackle food rescue and food waste reduction.
The Food Rescue Charities Program will see funds directed to help charity organisations reduce their energy costs by switching to renewable energy, increasing their capacity to rescue and store more food and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the amount of food ending up in landfill.
The funding will support a range of small scale energy efficiency projects such as more efficient refrigeration systems, renewable energy generation and storage to cut down on energy costs and expanding freezer storage capacity so more food can be rescued.
The Federal Government estimates food waste costs the Australian economy $20 billion a year and the government is working to reduce this by 50 per cent by 2030.
Every year around three million tonnes of food is wasted from the commercial and industrial sector, costing $10.5 billion in waste disposal charges and lost product. Meanwhile, charities and community groups are turning away more than 43,000 people seeking assistance every month.
The Food Rescue Charities Program will support:
- Secondbite with $86,416 for its Environmental Improvements Program to enlarge its freezer storage capacity of rescued food and to add a refrigerated vehicle to its operation to increase the supply of rescued food
- FareShare with $154,641 for its Powering Three Million Cooked Meals for Australian Charities program by installing solar systems to reduce energy costs and to add a refrigerated van to its operation to increase supply of rescued food
- Oz Harvest Limited with $272,233 to for its Oz Harvest Food Rescue Program national vehicle fleet and food storage refrigeration systems project to expand its fleet of refrigerated vehicles and refrigeration systems to increase food rescue and supply through its programs in Victoria, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland
- Foodbank Australia Limited with $272,727 to install solar systems to reduce energy costs at its distribution centres in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia