Industry Report DIRECT Commercialisation

This industry report identifies best practice for the quantification and reporting of food loss and waste (FLW), while accounting for the cost implications of those losses, across the food supply chain. Measurement is central to the prevention of FLW; accurate quantification and impact are essential as the basis of developing a business case for FLW reduction. Best practice knowledge has been used to inform the development and commercialisation of the decision support tool (DST), DIRECT. • Aligning with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SGD), the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (FFW CRC), RMIT University and Empauer have created DIRECT (through Project 1.1.1) as a business-ready and cloud-based DST that quantifies the ‘true cost of waste’ by identifying where food and non-food material losses flow across the food supply chain. DIRECT operationalises the globally recognised Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard (FLW Standard). Also, DIRECT implements the approximation of the monetary cost of material flows of FLW, in line with aspects of ISO 14051, a general framework for material flow cost accounting (MFCA). This level of granular attribution enables, both, consistency in output and flexibility in the analysis of material flows and costs, regarding product and non-product/waste destinations, in the food supply chain.