Waste not, want not? Seems some Aussies didn't get the memo.
Aussie households are throwing away up to $1500 worth of food every year, and according to a new OzHarvest report, it’s the younger generations that are the worst culprits when it comes to waste.
The Half Eaten: Australian Household Food Waste Research 2025 report, commissioned by OzHarvest, found that households with people aged under 35 generate approximately $1503 in annual food waste, which equates to 113 kilos of food. That’s a whopping 71 percent more than households with people aged 35-65+, who average $898, or 66kg, in wasted food annually. Gen Z and Millennials – we’re looking at you.
The research found that the biggest wasters were predominantly young people living in urban areas and earning a good income; either living alone, with a partner or in a share house. While they can likely afford to waste food, throwing one-and-a-half grand in the bin every year probably doesn’t do much for those savings goals.
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Food waste in Australia: what are we throwing away?
The research found that across all households, vegetables and leftovers were the most-wasted foods. Nearly half of all households surveyed for the report regularly waste uneaten leftovers like home-cooked meals and takeaways, as well as vegetables like tomatoes, carrots, leafy greens and herbs.
According to the Food Innovation Australia 2021 National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study, around 70 percent of the food being wasted in Australia is still perfectly edible. This new report found that almost 30 percent of high-wasting households throw away food to make room in the fridge before a grocery shop.
Another critical finding revealed that food labelling continues to cause problems – almost 60 percent of high-wasting households said that the most common reason for throwing away food was that it had reached either its best-before or use-by date.
“There’s a lot of confusion around food labels,” says OzHarvest national food waste campaign manager Monique Llewelyn. “People don’t understand the difference, and default to relying on the label rather than trusting their judgement. ‘Best before’ means peak quality – the food is still safe to eat well beyond this date. Older generations are more confident, as many remember buying food before date labels existed!”
Related story: The real difference between use-by and best-before dates
Food-waste behaviours
The report also found that high-wasting households are less likely to make meal plans or write shopping lists, which generally leads to more impulsive shopping decisions – and more unnecessary food in the fridge and pantry.
Low-wasting households tend to check what they have in the kitchen first and then write a shopping list, which means they only buy what they actually need. According to Llewelyn, if you start adopting these practices, you’ll waste around 40 percent less food.
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Where does food waste end up?
More than half of this wasted food ends up in the garbage bin headed for landfill, where it generates methane – a greenhouse gas that’s 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Only around 10 percent of people surveyed use a Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) green bin.
“We’re literally throwing money in the bin!” says OzHarvest Founder Ronni Kahn AO. “When we throw good food away it’s an outrageous waste of both resources and money. It breaks my heart to think of home-cooked leftovers being thrown away, or food that is perfectly edible but a tiny date dictates behaviour – we’ve really lost the value of food.”
Something to think about. What will you be telling your grandkids?
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