Pre-Farm Gate Waste Program

Research overview

The Pre-Farm Gate Waste Program aims to align the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector with Australia’s National Waste Policy.

AgriFutures Australia’s investment in pre-farm gate waste research, supports the priority of identifying, understanding and responding to national challenges and opportunities impacting Australian rural industries. The program was designed to look outside current national initiatives to undertake actions to minimise:

• Organic: Animal and plant organic matter, such as manure from farms and intensive animal systems, harvest waste, pruning and other organic matter.
• Plastic: Protected cultivation films, nets, piping, irrigation/drainage, packaging and other.
• Workshop: Hard and soft plastics, for example those used in field production, glasshouses and workshops, and to store produce (e.g. silage).

Management of waste from primary industries is an emerging and complex issue which requires pressing attention. Agriculture, fisheries and forestry produce a large amount and diversity of waste, with waste disposal often involving environmentally harmful practices (such as burning, on-farm burying and dumping), landfill and the unproductive use of ‘end of first use’ resources. ​

With rural industries setting waste reduction targets and considering waste management in their sustainability frameworks means they can use this baseline data to track progress against targets. It is recommended users consider this data in conjunction with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry National Waste and Resource Recovery Roadmap.