Organic waste is not a challenge, but a key opportunity for a resource constrained world. By valuing such waste, new approaches, technologies, and products can move the economy from a linear approach to waste disposal into a circular closed-loop value chain model.

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An organic waste value chain can mitigate against climate change and tackle climate adaptation by reducing the emissions from current organic waste disposal methods. Innovations in organic waste management can reduce pollution, improve public health and create local employment opportunities – all from this untapped and undervalued waste stream.

  • The food wholesale and retail trade sectors are major contributors of food waste to landfill in NSW. Alongside RMIT, ISF identified opportunities to help food retail and wholesale businesses reduce and better manage food waste in their operations. The research looked at Organic waste value chains where, why, and how much food waste is currently generated by food retail and wholesale businesses, such as supermarkets and grocers. The result was a detailed picture of current sources of food waste, actions already being taken, and barriers to further improvement.
  • In land-locked Malawi, fertiliser access, improved sanitation, and reversing environmental degradation are key challenges to the security of the local food system of Malawi’s second largest city, Blantyre. Our P-FUTURES project brought together key stakeholders in this system, including peri-urban subsistence farmers, the local Blantyre Council wastewater service provider, and the country’s primary fertiliser producer, to overcome the challenges being faced. This included exploring risks and vulnerabilities from the global phosphorus challenge, opportunities for Blantyre to effectively adapt, and developing tools to transform the way cities manage phosphorus.
  • In Sydney, Australia, we facilitated the installation of closed-loop rapid food waste decomposers in two UTS buildings to manage 100 per cent of the organic food waste streams produced on-site. Separated food waste is currently being processed using the decomposer system and transported to Earth Works to generate energy and produce nutrient-rich fertiliser. This ultimately turns the university’s food waste into organic fertilisers for local parks and gardens, creating evidence for innovative circular economies.