Western Australian businesses can now make better informed decisions about reducing food waste and turning discarded materials into valuable products, 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 helps 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.
"Food waste can represent a significant lost opportunity for a business, but identifying a possible solution is only the first step," Associate Professor Howieson said.
"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.
"This toolkit brings those considerations together, giving businesses an easier way to investigate their options before potentially committing significant resources to something that may not be profitable."
Associate Professor 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," Associate Professor 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.
Business Manager Doriana Mangili said the horticulture industry often had to discard fruit and vegetables due to appearance, despite being perfectly healthy.
"The mapping tools have been an excellent way of seeing in which areas exactly we get waste," Ms Mangili said.
"We had access to information we would never have otherwise had as individual growers.
"Over a few months we were able to reduce our waste from up to as much as 30 per cent to virtually zero, by sending everything through to our value adding facility and processing those products into either frozen bananas or freeze-dried bananas."
Associate Professor Howieson said the ultimate goal was to make sophisticated research and analysis more accessible to smaller businesses.
"Small and medium-sized businesses often don't have the resources to commission extensive research every time they identify a potential opportunity," Associate Professor Howieson said.
"By giving them a practical framework to measure the problem and assess their options, we hope they can make informed decisions which reduce waste while also making good commercial sense."
The online toolkit is available here.
