Online tool to help food businesses turn waste into opportunity

Western Australian businesses can now make better-informed decisions about reducing and upcycling food waste, thanks to a new online toolkit.

Developed through a research collaboration involving Curtin University, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and the End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre, the Food Waste PRO toolkit is designed to help small and medium-sized food businesses measure their waste and assess potential solutions from technical, regulatory and economic perspectives.

Curtin food science researcher Associate Professor Janet Howieson, from the School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said many smaller businesses recognised opportunities to reduce or repurpose food waste but lacked the time and resources to determine whether solutions were commercially viable.

“Businesses need to understand how much waste they are producing, what can practically be done with it and, importantly, whether investing in a particular solution makes financial sense,” Howieson said.

The project brought together researchers from a wide variety of disciplines to examine food waste from multiple perspectives.

“The research has involved mapping and monitoring food waste, examining potential markets, using food science to trial new products and supply-chain innovations, undertaking cost-benefit analysis and looking at how different strategies can be successfully implemented,” Howieson said.

“The solution will be different for every business: reducing waste might involve changing procurement or processing practices, improving staff training or supply chains, or finding ways to turn what was previously a discarded by-product into a new product.”

The toolkit has been trialled and refined through several WA food businesses spanning the grain, seafood and horticulture industries.

Carnarvon-based grower and distributor Sweeter Banana participated in the trial, and Business Manager Doriana Mangili said: “Over a few months we were able to reduce our waste from up to as much as 30% to virtually zero, by sending everything through to our value-adding facility and processing those products into either frozen bananas or freeze-dried bananas.”

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