Sustainability 2015, 7, 4707-4726; doi:10.3390/su7044707 OPEN ACCESS sustainability ISSN 2071-1050 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Article Rescuing Food from the Organics Waste Stream to Feed the Food Insecure: An Economic and Environmental Assessment of Australian Food Rescue Operations Using Environmentally Extended Waste Input-Output Analysis Christian John Reynolds *, Julia Piantadosi and John Boland Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the Barbara Hardy Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Boulevard, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia; E-Mails:
[email protected] (J.P.);
[email protected] (J.B.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +61-400-94-2636. Academic Editors: Kirrilly Thompson, Drew Dawson and Anne Sharp Received: 17 February 2015 / Accepted: 14 April 2015 / Published: 21 April 2015 Abstract: In this paper we investigate the economic and environmental efficiency of charities and NGO’s “rescuing” food waste, using a 2008 case study of food rescue organisations in Australia. We quantify the tonnages, costs, and environmental impact of food rescued, and then compare food rescue to other food waste disposal methods composting and landfill. To our knowledge this is the first manuscript to comprehend the psychical flows of charity within an Input-Output framework—treating the charity donations as a waste product. We found that 18,105 tonnes of food waste was rescued, and calculate that food rescue operations generate approximately six kilograms of food waste per tonne of food rescued, at a cost of US$222 per tonne of food rescued. This a lower cost than purchasing a tonne of comparable edible food at market value.