The Government is funding five projects to help address the growing problem of food waste, Environment Minister David Parker announced today.

“New Zealand households throw away nearly 300,000 tonnes of food every year, half of which could still be eaten. By supporting these initiatives, we’re taking steps to reduce this problem,” David Parker said.

The Government will fund two food waste and three compost projects this year through the Waste Minimisation Fund.

· KiwiHarvest will receive $153,000 for its three new sites.

· 0800 Hungry Ministries in Christchurch will receive $67,012 to replace 15-year-old delivery vans used in their food rescue operations.

· Community Compost Ltd will receive $92,250 to expand current composting operations in Nelson.

· CBEC (Community Business and Environment Centre) EcoSolutions that operates in Northland will receive $400,000 to install 12 community composting hubs and 1,200 home composting systems.

· BioRich Limited in Napier will receive $850,000 to expand existing composting operations in Hawke’s Bay.

“We continue to support organic waste projects to meet emissions reductions targets. It is one of our investment signals for the current 2021 funding round and further applications are still under consideration,” David Parker said.

“To address food waste, we need to look into ways of redistributing or reusing edible surplus food, as well as ways to divert inedible food from landfill. These projects support both.

“By funding such projects we’re making strides towards a low waste, low emissions circular economy.”

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