In 2020-21 around 9.8 million tonnes of pre-farm gate waste was produced, including around 100,000 tonnes of plastic waste and 163,000 tonnes of workshop material such as tyres, oil and batteries. While most pre-farm gate waste was organic (around 9.55 million tonnes), this waste is often used beneficially on-farm such as through returning to the soil for improved soil health or reducing soil erosion risk.
RMCG are national leaders in agricultural waste. We understand the extent of the problem through our development of the National Waste and Resource Recovery Roadmap, and barriers that reduce recycling and reuse of waste materials. Our approach is to work closely with the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors to develop solutions and drive government and industry support for implementation.
In 2023, RMCG and our project partner Rawtec delivered a Dairy Food Waste Action Plan, on behalf of Dairy Australia. We analysed key root causes of dairy food waste across the supply chain to create approaches to reduce waste across manufacturing, distribution/retail, and food service/households. These approaches targeted education, partnerships, and tangible packaging changes.