RMIT experts are available for comment on reducing waste during the pandemic

Associate Professor Karli Verghese  (03 9925 9080 or karli.verghese@rmit.edu.au)

Topics: consumer food waste, food packaging, food purchasing, reducing household food waste

“Australian households are contributing 34%, or 2.5 million tonnes, towards national food waste figures.

“Packaging plays an important role in containing and protecting our food, maintaining food safety, quality, freshness and nutritional value.

“To maximise this, utilise the ‘first in first out’ rule by ensuring you rotate your stored food items so that you consume those with the closest use-by dates first, placing those with the furthest dates at the back.

“If different serving sizes are available, purchase products appropriate for your household size and make-up.

“Look out for resealable features on packaging, as it’s been designed so you can take out product, while leaving the remainder behind for another meal.

“Individual portion packs are also designed so that you open and consume a specific serving size, while leaving the other individual portions sealed for a future time.

“Simple changes in consumer behaviour can help reduce Australian households’ contribution to national food waste figures, easing pressure on waste management infrastructure.

Karli is a Principal Research Fellow in the School of Design, RMIT University and is also the Reduce Program Leader in the Fight Food Waste CRC. Her research involves working with industry and government on the role of packaging, packaging sustainability, food loss and food waste across supply chains and life cycle assessment.

How packaging can help reduce food waste

Simon Lockrey (simon.lockrey@rmit.edu.au)

Topics: industrial/product design, sustainable products, packaging, LCA, recycling, Keep Cup research

"Food brand owners, retailers, or packaging companies have a great opportunity to assist in packaging and food waste reduction.

"Counter-intuitively, the food waste component of a product can have far greater environmental impacts than the packaging."

"Packaging can have beneficial features ‘designed in’ to reduce food waste that consumers are not always aware of or using.

"Greater consumer awareness is needed about the benefits of packaging, ranging from its resealable function, modified atmosphere and other mechanical features that extend food shelf life or protect it over time.

"Food retailers and brand owners could look at assisting consumers with food planning, portion control, and other strategies to reduce food waste before it happens, which may require packaging-based solutions.

"However, unnecessary packaging should be minimized where possible.

"Circular approaches to both packaging and food waste that cannot be avoided should be 'front of mind', which would require governments, industry, and the waste management sector to collaborate due to the current waste infrastructure crisis, and potentially to tap into or build new markets for circular materials and products."

Dr Simon Lockrey is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Design. He is a leading sustainability, design innovation researcher focused on life cycle assessment, co-design, design innovation, marketing, resource efficiency and food waste projects.

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