Abstract
This research project explored solutions for food waste reduction and mitigation across Te Whatu Ora / New Zealand Public Hospital systems. Directly relating and supporting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3, to halve global food waste at consumer andretail levels by 2030.This research was done by analysing appropriate literature exploring food and organic waste management strategies in national and international hospital service sectors and systems, further using the Food Recovery Hierarchy as a framework, which ranks the effects of these strategies when looking at them financially, environmentally and socially. Furthermore, this research looks at the barriers and enablers of the suggested organic waste management strategies. A food waste audit was c onducted at Dunedin Public Hospital to assess and quantify the current organic waste within the system. The audit method was developed using the Food Loss and Waste Protocol Waste Composition Analysis Guide.The key questions of this study are: How do we prevent organic waste in the first place (preparation strategies)? What can we do with the organic waste produced to prevent it from going to landfills? What items in the food system are the most wasted? How much Greenhouse gas (GHG) is produced by this organic waste going to landfill? Organic waste produces methane, occupies land mass and has the potential for groundwater contamination. Ten per cent of total global GHG Emissions come from food waste, 22% of which is occurring at the consumption level. The key impact of this research is to mitigate organic waste going to landfills to reduce further climate change, thus benefiting environmentally, socially and economically.