Australian Institute of Packaging

AIP’s commitment to Fighting Food Waste and Food Loss

As a part of the AIP’s commitment to the SAVE FOOD Initiative by FAO, the National Food Waste Strategy, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 the Institute is focused on education and training programs that can assist with minimising food waste and loss globally.

The AIP have developed training courses and awards programs that are focused on

The Role of Packaging in Minimising Food Waste
Save Food Packaging Design
Sustainable Packaging Design
The role of Lifecycle Analysis in packaging design

The AIP are very proud to lead the way globally in developing a Save Food Packaging Design Award that has established stringent guidelines and criteria. The AIP has a goal to create a global standard for all Save Food Packaging design.

The AIP have a representative on the Department of the Environment and Energy National Food Waste Steering Committee, are a core contributor of the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre, a Member of the SAVE FOOD Initiative and a Member of Friends of 12.3 and an active World Packaging Organisation Member in the SAVE FOOD Pavilion at Interpack.

The AIP is a long-standing supporter of Foodbank Australia running an annual Christmas Hamper Packing Program in Queensland and recently introducing a warehouse packing day in Victoria for the wider industry

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SAVE FOOD Initiative
Together against food waste and loss: SAVE FOOD.

SAVE FOOD is a joint initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Messe Düsseldorf, and interpack, the leading global trade fair for packaging and processes. Their goal is to fight global food waste and loss. Through a global alliance of all stakeholders. The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) is Member of the SAVE FOOD Org and contributes to the World Packaging Organisation Save Food Packaging Pavilion at Interpack.
http://aipack.com.au/aip-joins-save-food-initiative/
https://www.save-food.org/
http://www.packagingnews.com.au/interpack/anz-save-food-packaging-designs-garner-interest
http://www.packagingnews.com.au/news/aussie-flag-to-fly-at-interpack-s-save-food-pavilion
https://www.sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/sustainability/news/save-food-packaging-award-winners-at-interpack-2017-1104403386
https://www.foodprocessing.com.au/content/sustainability/news/save-food-packaging-award-winners-showcased-at-interpack-2017-1293786434

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United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12:3

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Sustainable consumption and production is about promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and providing access to basic services, green and decent jobs and a better quality of life for all. Its implementation helps to achieve overall development plans, reduce future economic, environmental and social costs, strengthen economic competitiveness and reduce poverty.

12.3 Food

While substantial environmental impacts from food occur in the production phase (agriculture, food processing), households influence these impacts through their dietary choices and habits. This consequently affects the environment through food-related energy consumption and waste generation.
1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year while almost 1 billion people go undernourished and another 1 billion hungry.
Overconsumption of food is detrimental to our health and the environment.
2 billion people globally are overweight or obese.
Land degradation, declining soil fertility, unsustainable water use, overfishing and marine environment degradation are all lessening the ability of the natural resource base to supply food.
The food sector accounts for around 30 per cent of the world’s total energy consumption and accounts for around 22 per cent of total Greenhouse Gas emissions.

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-consumption-production/

Friends Champions of 12.3
While Champions 12.3 is the group of CEOs leading progress to achieve the UN’s SDG Target 12.3, there are many organisations that are part of the movement to halve food loss and waste. The Friends of Champions 12.3 network features companies and organisations that are contributing to the worldwide momentum on this issue. The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) is a Member for Champions of 12.3.
https://champions123.org/friends-of-champions-12-3/

http://www.packagingnews.com.au/associations/aip-joins-friends-of-champions-12-3

http://www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au/packaging/aip-joins-the-friends-of-champions

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National Food Waste Strategy
The National Food Waste Strategy was launched on 20 November by the Minister for the Environment and Energy at the National Food Waste Summit.

The culmination of many months of consultation with industry, academia, the not-for-profit sector, and all tiers of government, the Strategy establishes a framework to support actions that can help work towards halving Australia’s food waste by 2030.

All Australia’s environment ministers extended their support for a strategy to help halve Australia’s food waste by 2030. This support acknowledges the importance of addressing food waste and the impact it has on the environment, the economy and society.

Food waste is estimated to cost the Australian economy around $20 billion each year. Australian consumers throw away around 3.1 million tonnes of edible food a year. Another 2.2 million tonnes is disposed by the commercial and industrial sector. The complexities of dealing with food waste means that an integrated approach is needed. There are also substantial opportunities to rethink how food waste can be prevented, or wasted food can be used for other purposes.

The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) contributed to the Strategy.

http://aipack.com.au/australias-roadmap-to-halve-food-waste-by-2030-has-been-released/
https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/25e36a8c-3a9c-487c-a9cb-66ec15ba61d0/files/national-food-waste-baseline-executive-summary.pdf
http://aipack.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Food_Australia_Jan_Feb_Mar_2019_30-31.pdf
http://aipack.com.au/wp-content/uploads/PKN_OCT_2018_food-waste-battle-heats-up.pdf
http://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-resource-recovery/national-waste-policy/publications/national-food-waste-strategy
http://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-resource-recovery/national-waste-policy/food-waste
http://www.packagingnews.com.au/news/govt-aims-to-halve-food-waste-by-2030-recognises-packaging-s-role

National Food Waste Steering Committee
The Coalition Government has taken another step towards halving food waste in Australia by 2030 with the appointment of the steering committee which will support the implementation of the recently announced National Food Waste Strategy – a first for Australia.

“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 is 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.

The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) has a representative on the National Food Waste Steering Committee.
http://www.joshfrydenberg.com.au/guest/mediaReleasesDetails.aspx?id=519
http://www.packagingnews.com.au/news/aip-exec-brings-packaging-voice-to-govt-s-food-waste-committee

End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre
The End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) officially commenced operations on 1 July, less than three months after receiving a whopping $30 million grant from the Australian Government’s CRC Program. Originally proposed in November 2016, the End Food Waste CRC seeks to bring together industry, government and research bodies to tackle the growing international problem of food waste, which is at the heart of future industry sustainability.

Its mission is composed of three core aims:

Reduce food waste throughout the value chain.
Transform unavoidable waste into innovative high-value products.
Engage with industry and consumers to deliver behavioural change.

The CRC involves 60 participants from around Australia and overseas, who collectively raised $103 million in addition to the $30 million from the CRC Program. The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) is one of the core participants of this program.

AIP to lead the Save Food Packaging Project for the End Food Waste CRC

The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) formally announced that the End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre have approved their Save Food Packaging project as one of the first.

The AIP will be the project leader on the Save Food Packaging Criteria and Framework 1.2.1 project and have established an extensive Save Food Packaging Consortium that is made up of leaders in Save Food Packaging Design and innovations to ensure that the guidelines are practical for the industries they will serve. The Save Food Packaging Consortium is made up of the AIP as project lead, RMIT as the Research Partner, Project Contributors will be ZipForm Packaging, Sealed Air, Multivac and APCO, Project Partners will be Plantic Technologies, Result Group and Ulma Packaging and the Extension Network will consist of Australian Food Cold Chian Council (AFCCC), Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST) and APCO.

The Save Food Packaging Design Criteria and Framework will integrate current research literature with industry knowledge regarding the functional properties and role of packaging in saving food being wasted. Whilst the primary functions of packaging are to contain and protect the content, as well as providing information about the product, the role of packaging in reducing food waste needs to be better understood by food producers, manufacturers, brand owners, retailers and consumers.

The connection between packaging design and food waste needs to be discussed more openly in the industry. From field to fork there are several possibilities for food loss and waste to occur. It has been approximated that up to 30% of the edible food produced, does not reach the fork. Packaging’s role in reducing food waste is the next challenge for Packaging Technologists, Designers and Engineers.