APRIL supported project (6A-105)
Researchers: Dr Valeria Torok, Dr Bryony Tucker and Dr Reza Barekatain (South Australian Research and Development Institute).
Due to the risk of introducing emergency animal diseases, the feeding of any feed waste product to pigs is usually prohibited in Australia. But what if the food could be processed to make it completely safe? This was the challenge set by the End Food Waste CRC-P, a cooperative research program aiming to tackle Australia’s risking landfill problem by finding sustainable ways to repurpose biological feed waste.
Research Aim: To identify food safety, biosecurity risks, and economic feasibility of converting mixed human food waste into safe pig feed.
A regional Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) was conducted across five Australian pig producing areas in Australia. The TEA assessed both wet and dry feeding systems to evaluate the practical and economic viability of converting food waste into a bio-secure ingredient compared with standard grain-based diet.
Alongside the TEA, a pilot study was undertaken with weaner pigs fed either a 100% standard commercial feed, or an 80% standard commercial feed plus 20% bio-secure waste. Food waste was macerated, heated to 100°C, dewatered, dried and milled (<3mm) before being incorporated into the diet.
Figure 1. Process of treating mixed food waste into a dry feed ingredient. The material was initially macerated/shredded and then heat treated, dewatered, dried and milled into a feed ingredient.
Snapshot of key findings:
- The TEA identified approximately 373,000 tonnes per year of untapped food waste from commercial and industrial sources across five major pig producing regions in Australia.
- Wet feed production was found to be feasible in all areas investigated, with dry feed ingredient production being feasible only on the eastern seaboard.
- The four-week weaner trial found no significant differences in performance or faecal amino acid digestibility of weaner pigs fed a 20% mixed food waste additive compared to those fed only a commercial weaner diet.
Australia currently lacks the legislative framework to support uptake by both the food and livestock industries. Safe implementation will therefore require the development of policy and legislative frameworks.
This work has been supported by the End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre whose activities are funded by the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Program.
