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Food waste

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Learn about the effects of food waste on the environment and what you can do to limit how much you throw away.

Woman placing food scraps in a white recycling bin on her kitchen bench.

Food waste in Brisbane

Food that is intended for consumption but is thrown away during production, distribution, sale or consumption is often referred to as food waste. The impacts of food waste are significant.

Food waste accounts for:

30%

of Brisbane's general waste that goes into landfill

over $2,700

worth of wasted food per household per year

around 2,600

gigalitres of water to grow food that's wasted

approximately 3%

of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.

Brisbane's 3 most wasted foods

A loaf of bread.

Bread
A raw steak of uncooked meat.

Meat
A green lettuce salad vegetable.

Salad greens

How to reduce food waste

We all play an important part in reducing food waste. Reducing food waste can help save money, resources and the environment.

Consider the 3 ‘Rs’ when purchasing and consuming food.

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Reduce

  • Plan your meals. Check your fridge, freezer and pantry before you shop. Use a shopping list or app, avoid shopping when you're hungry and shop mindfully.
  • Involve your children when preparing school lunches. Seeking your kids okay helps prevent food from being left untouched in lunchboxes or thrown in the bin.
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Reuse

  • Freeze food before it goes off. Bananas, strawberries, bread and meat freeze well. Cut up fruit before you freeze it to use for smoothies, breakfast and desserts.
  • Use up your leftovers by dedicating one night a week to using leftover food. Repurpose leftovers into other meals and take leftovers to work for lunch.
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Recycle

  • Compost your food scraps using a compost or worm farm system. Feeding food scraps to worms helps to break down food naturally, before it starts to emit harmful greenhouse gases. The by-products of composting and worm farming can help fertilise your garden.

Get started with composting

Compost rebate program

Get started with composting at home with our Compost Rebate Program.

The program provides eligible Brisbane residents with rebates of up to $100 for the purchase of eligible composting or worm-farming equipment and up to $200 for the purchase of food waste dehydrators or in-sink food waste disposal systems.

Learn more

Local composting hubs

Council has partnered with a number of community gardens and other locations around Brisbane to help residents turn food scraps into nutrients for soil.

This program encourages residents to regularly contribute food scraps to their nearest community compost hub.

Find a compost hub
potted plant

Note

If you’re already composting, register to attend our free advanced course and become a Master Composter. Broaden your skills and knowledge to help and encourage other local composters.