New Zealand’s food waste: Estimating the tonnes, value, calories and resources wasted

About this resource: In 2011, macro-economic and aggregated waste data were used to estimate that New Zealand households generated over 224,000 tonnes of food waste, and New Zealand industries generated over 103,000 tonnes of food waste. New Zealand’s food waste was split into 14 food waste categories of which 7% related to "fresh" produce, and 93% "processed" food waste. The value of New Zealand's food waste in 2011 was estimated to be NZ $568 million, or $131 per person. Furthermore, New Zealand's food waste represented 163 × 109 calories in total, and avoidable food waste would have been able to feed between 50,000 and 80,000 people a year. New Zealand food waste embodied 4.2 × 106 tonnes of CO2-e, 4.7 × 109 m3 of water, and 29 × 103 TJ of energy. Nonetheless, compared to other nations, New Zealanders wasted less food per capita by weight, value and calorie.

Food Waste Innovation Authors: Miranda Mirosa

Citation: Reynolds, C., Mirosa, M. & Clothier, B. (2016) New Zealand’s Food Waste: Estimating the Tonnes, Value, Calories and Resources Wasted. Agriculture, 6(1), 9-25.