In New Zealand, around 1.2 million tonnes of food are wasted each year, and 30% of this food wastage happens at a household level (Ministry for Environment, Nov 2025)

When food is wasted, not only do we waste the food itself, but we also waste the resources used to produce and transport it (such as water, pesticides and fertilisers, and the fuel used for manufacturing and transportation). If the food waste is sent to landfill, it takes an extremely long time to decompose. Landfill is an environment without oxygen, and as microorganisms within the landfill consume organic materials, they create methane, a potent greenhouse gas which contributes to climate change. 

Reducing your food waste

The Waste Hierarchy displays the order of preference for waste management options and it can be applied to food waste. Disposal should be our very last option and avoided where possible. 

REDUCE

Avoid the generation of surplus food:

  • Plan meals so you only buy what you need
  • Check your fridge and pantry before shopping so you know what you already have that needs to be eaten before its expiry date
  • Store food correctly so it remains fresh for as long as possible. For example, freeze bread to keep it fresh (slices of bread toast very well from frozen).
  • Organise your food supplies so food is less likely to get "lost" down the back of the fridge or forgotten at the back of the pantry. Storing food where you can easily see it will help you to identify which items need to be eaten first, and you can spot any fruit or veg which may be going bad.

 

RE-USE / RE-PURPOSE

At a household level you can:

 

RECYCLE

  • Compost your fruit and vegetable scraps. See our Home Composting page for more information.
  • Instead of a standard compost bin in your garden you can opt to use a Bokashi bin either indoors or outdoors. You can add a much wider variety of food scraps to a Bokashi system, including meat, dairy and baked goods. The Compost Collective website has a good introduction to the Bokashi method of composting food scraps at home.
  • Alternatively, use your Council food scraps bin. Processing of these food scraps varies by council, but the end goal is the same: to create a useful product from this food resource. Your council may send scraps to an anaerobic digestion facility where bacteria break down the scraps to create liquid fertiliser (and the biogas produced during this process can be used to power local industry). Some councils oversee large-scale commercial composting of their food scraps.

 

Vegetable peelings

 

Resources

Love Food - Hate Waste

Love Food, Hate Waste is a campaign for households and catering businesses, to make better use of the food we buy so that less is wasted. They provide a range of online resourcing including tips on how to store food to make it last longer, recipes to use up food that may otherwise go in the bin, tips on meal planning and information on use by dates. They also run Food Lovers Masterclass with Kate Meads workshops around the country so check their events page for dates near you.

Wasted New Zealand

Wasted New Zealand is an educational video series that takes you on a journey through our key waste streams here in New Zealand. Join Kate Meads and Brad Stent to find out where all our waste ends up, look at Recycling, Waste Water, Food Waste and Landfill.

 

Food Rescue

There are numerous projects and charities around the country that aim to connect edible food waste to those that need it. Examples include:



Households