15122 (2025). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Associate Minister of Education

15122 (2025). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Associate Minister of Education: What measures are in place, if any, to report wasted meals that do not get returned to the School Lunch Collective?

Hon David Seymour: The School Lunch Collective (the Collective) has a waste and surplus meal management plan and removes all school lunch rubbish, including food scraps and packaging waste collection. Sustainability, waste and surplus management is one of the monthly performance measures required from the School Lunch Collective. The lead waste indicators include: • Waste Management Plan • Collaboration with end users on waste and surplus reduction and management • Monitoring and reporting • Food waste and sustainable packaging practices. • Reduction in surplus meals, All waste collected by the Collective or third party is reported by weight. All suppliers and schools are required to work to their waste management plan, which is to align with guidance set by the Ministry for the Environment’s national waste strategy (Te Rautaki Para), and associated standards. Included in this plan is to provide evidence of general recycling, reused of packaging and composting of food scraps. The focus is on minimisation of the amount of food scraps, meal surplus and packaging waste generated, and the Ministry will work with both schools and suppliers to meet their waste management plan.