Australians throw away 7.6 million tons of food every year, a report has found.
According to the report, which was published by End Food Waste Australia (EFWA), Australians waste the equivalent of 29 million meals every day.
Steven Lapidge, chief executive of the South Australian-based EFWA, said that the wastage was enough to provide lunch daily for every Australian at a time when 3.7 million households are struggling to put food on the table.
The report estimated that the combined value of the food wasted by Australians every year is 36.6 billion Australian dollars (24.3 billion U.S. dollars).
EFWA was established in 2023 when government agencies the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre and Stop Food Waste Australia merged to help deliver the 2017 National Food Waste Strategy, which set a target of halving food waste by 2030.
The new report was published on the eve of the 2024 National Food Waste Summit, which will bring together experts and industry leaders from around the world in Melbourne.
Lapidge said in a media release that the two-day event comes at the midway point between the launch of the national strategy and the 2030 target.
"It's crunch time, with the cost-of-living crisis bringing the need for action into sharp focus. We're halfway through our plan to halve food waste by 2030. This summit is crucial," he said.
"With the right moves, we can cut waste, save billions of dollars, and make sure every Aussie has enough to eat. There's no time to waste, ending food waste starts with us all."
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water estimates that food waste accounts for 3 percent of Australia's annual greenhouse gas emissions and that 2,600 gigaliters of water is used to grow food that is wasted.
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