Woolworths is stepping up its sustainability efforts by using a depackaging facility capable of processing up to 15,000 tonnes of packaged food each year.
The facility, in collaboration with environmental services company Veolia, removes and separates the packaging from Woolworths’ outdated products.
This allowed Woolworths to process expired food and transform it into high-quality compost, as well as repurpose the packaging as a recycled resource, resulting in very little packaged food waste going to landfill.
According to Paul Donaghy, Woolworths 360’s resource recovery manager, donating expired packaged food to charity partners is not an option because the food is no longer edible.
“While we use a range of services to save inedible food from landfill, one of the biggest challenges is separating packaging from the food inside,” he said.
Donaghy explained that this depackaging method will help Woolworths continue to reduce food wastage by ensuring packed items can be processed efficiently and effectively.
The depackaging facility is part of Woolworths’ sustainability commitment. In the previous fiscal year, the supermarket giant diverted 80 per cent of its food waste from landfills.
Veolia, headquartered in France, operates on five continents and provides water, waste, and energy management solutions. The group intends to expand in Australia with its new GreenUp strategy, which will be available online.
Further reading: Woolworths to open first ‘supermarket for bees’
