Enactus students from Edith Cowan University have won the Graham Kraehe Community Project – Brambles Food Waste Challenge for their program, Waste Not.
The winning program, which also saw the team crowned Enactus National Champions, provides initiatives including an environmental impact report on food waste to local businesses in the city of Joondalup, Western Australia.
It educates businesses in Joondalup about food waste and includes social, economic and environmental factors to encourage improvements in agricultural production, the provision of food service and through community awareness. The students devised, developed, delivered and documented their project.
Enactus Board Member and CHEP Asia Pacific President, Phillip Austin awarded the team a $5,000 prize to support development of their project. In addition, as overall winner of the national championship, the project received an additional $5,000 prize from Brambles.
“CHEP is proud to have partnered with organisations to reduce food waste throughout the supply chain and are delighted to support this worthwhile project that addresses an area where a big impact can be made – through community and local business awareness and engagement,” Austin said.
“We are proud to see our donation used to make a difference in reducing food waste and educating the local community on sustainable solutions.
“The ‘Waste Not’ team have shown strong business acumen and entrepreneurial skills in development of this community-wide project and I look forward to seeing this project progress.”
The ‘Waste Not’ program provides assistance in environmental analysis and education initiatives for local businesses to reduce food waste through, amongst other initiatives, donating leftover food to charities and redirecting food into purpose-built compost bins that fertilises a community vegetable garden.
Enactus is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to inspiring students to improve the world through entrepreneurial action.
The Enactus program includes 20 universities working on real-life issues with guidance and mentoring from corporate business partners in Australia, to achieve real results.
Founding Director and Enactus CEO, Judy Howard said, “The ‘Waste Not’ team have demonstrated leadership, teamwork, and have further enhanced their communication skills through project management, problem solving and networking skills.
“The program has shown a strong plan for self-sufficiency and the ability to be successfully implemented into the community.”
The Enactus National Conference and Championships provides an opportunity for Enactus teams to present the outcomes of their projects to a team of judges drawn from the business community around Australia. The 2016 National Conference and Competition was held from 5-7 July at the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney.
The team of 24 from Edith Cowan University will go on to compete at the Enactus World Cup from 28-30 September 2017 in Toronto, Canada.