Helping a national supermarket divert more than 7,200 tonnes of food waste from landfill
Key takeaways
- Cleanaway implemented a packaged organics solution across 470 supermarket stores, eight distribution centres and a national head office.
- More than 7,272 tonnes of food waste have been diverted from landfill since implementation, increasing landfill diversion from 6% to 41%.
- The staged national rollout combined specialised depackaging technology, tailored site design, staff education and ongoing service optimisation to improve sustainability outcomes while reducing waste collection costs.
Customer snapshot
| Project detail | Information |
| Timeline: | 2023–2025 |
| Customer: | Leading national supermarket retailer |
| Location: | Australia |
| Project: | National packaged organics and food waste recovery program |
| Services provided: | Packaged food waste collection, depackaging, organic resource recovery and landfill diversion across 470 stores, eight distribution centres and a national head office |
| Key outcome: | More than 7,272 tonnes of food waste diverted from landfill, increasing landfill diversion from 6% in 2022 to 41% in 2025 |
Our solution
Cleanaway designed and implemented a national packaged organics solution that enabled whole packaged food products to be collected directly from stores and processed through specialised depackaging technology.
Rather than requiring supermarket staff to remove packaging manually, packaged food waste was collected by Cleanaway and transported to depackaging facilities capable of separating food from a wide range of packaging materials.
The depackaging process uses adjustable paddles that gently squeeze packaging to release its contents while leaving the packaging largely intact for downstream processing. The recovered organic material is then composted and repurposed for beneficial land application, supporting circular resource recovery outcomes.
The solution accepts a broad range of packaged food products, including:
bakery items
fruit and vegetables
dairy
meat, poultry and fish
pet food
beverages
cereals, pasta and grains
tea and coffee
confectionery and snack foods.
The national network utilised Cleanaway depackaging facilities at South East Organics Depot and Willawong, supported by specialist processing partners in South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales where required.
How it worked
The rollout was delivered over two years through a staged implementation across eight store regions, allowing services to be tailored to each state's operational requirements while maintaining a consistent national approach.
A multidisciplinary team involving account management, resource recovery specialists, implementation managers, operations teams, ommercial finance managers, branch managers and state managers coordinated the rollout across Australia.
To ensure the program succeeded, Cleanaway:
Completed desktop assessments of every site to determine the most appropriate organics bin size based on available space and existing waste volumes
Designed efficient collection routes to integrate packaged organics into existing transport schedules
Developed customised store signage, warning labels and secure locked bins to discourage bin diving
Created education materials for the customer's internal learning platform to ensure consistent staff training across all stores
Delivered tailored site assessments, signage and train-the-trainer sessions across all distribution centres
Worked closely with the customer's sustainability team to resolve contamination issues through ongoing education and site visits
Continuously reviewed collection frequencies and optimised general waste services as food waste diversion increased.
Results, impact and what it means for other customers
| Outcome | Result |
| National rollout | Packaged organics services implemented across 470 stores, eight distribution centres and the national head office |
| Food waste diverted | More than 7,272 tonnes of food waste diverted from landfill |
| Landfill diversion | Increased from 6% in 2022 to 41% in 2025 |
| Waste service optimisation | General waste collection services reduced as food waste diversion increased, delivering cost savings alongside improved environmental outcomes |
| Contamination reduction | Secure locked organics bins, clear warning signage and targeted staff education helped reduce contamination and discourage bin diving |
| Scalable solution | National operational capability, specialist depackaging infrastructure and customer education created a scalable approach to packaged food waste recovery for large food retailers |
Testimonials
"Delivering a packaged organics solution at this scale required close collaboration across operations, resource recovery and the customer's sustainability team. By combining specialist infrastructure with practical site-by-site implementation, we were able to significantly increase landfill diversion while making the process simpler for store teams."
Chad Hannelly
Senior Platinum Sustainabilty Specialist