Waste reduction

We commit to reducing our waste from farm to manufacturing and beyond.

Dairy processors typically produce a variety of waste types including packaging waste such as cardboard, paper, cartons and plastic, organic wastes such as sludge and reject product as well as office waste. On farm, silage wrap is a key issue due to a lack of available options for recycling in regional areas.

Through the Australian Dairy Industry Sustainability Framework, we're focused on working towards the Australian Government’s commitment to all packaging being recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025.

Packaging roadmap

A roadmap for making dairy packaging more sustainable and achieving Australia’s 2025 packaging targets has been released. It was developed by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation in partnership with Dairy Australia and the Australian Dairy Products Federation. Learn more about the roadmap here.

This roadmap contributes to the vision for Australia's packaging future, a future that recognises our planet has finite resources to meet our ever increasing consumption.

Food waste action plan

With the support of the Recycling Victoria Business Support Fund, leading dairy organisations Australian Dairy Products Federation and Dairy Australia are partnering with Stop Food Waste Australia to develop a Dairy Sector Food Waste Action Plan to reduce food waste across the dairy supply chain. The action plan supports the Australian dairy industry’s goal in the Australian Dairy Sustainability Framework to halve food waste by 2030. Find out more about the plan here.

Silage wrap

Dairy farms use 5,000 to 10,000 tonnes of plastic annually on silage bales and covers for silage pits to preserve cut grass for animal feed. Around 5% of this plastic waste is currently recycled.

The dairy industry has set a target to recycle 100% of plastic silage wrap waste on farms by 2030 and this received a big boost in November 2020, with the award of a $965,400 grant from the Commonwealth Government’s National Product Stewardship Investment Fund.

The funding will enable the rollout of a collection and recycling system for farm plastics across Australian dairy regions and seek to minimise the environmental impact of this waste product over the next decade.

Plant-based packaging

Dairy Australia partnered with The Guardian to showcase how Australian dairy is at the forefront of sustainable packaging solutions. Read the article here.

Sustainability across the Australian dairy industry

Read the latest Australian Dairy Industry Sustainability Report to see how we're making progress against all our goals and targets.