Australian food and beverage SMEs now have access to a new national resource designed to help them navigate the complex transition to more sustainable packaging and processing technologies while protecting product quality and minimising food waste.
The newly launched Food and Beverage SME Packaging and Machinery Solution Centre is a collaboration between RMIT University, End Food Waste Australia, Australasian Institute of Packaging, Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association and Tetra Pak.
Led by RMIT and End Food Waste Australia, the centre will provide independent, research-backed advice alongside co-funded applied research projects, giving SMEs access to technical expertise and university research capabilities to assess new packaging materials, formats and processing technologies.
The initiative comes as many food manufacturers seek to replace problematic packaging materials but face the risk that alternative solutions may reduce shelf life, compromise product quality or unintentionally increase environmental impacts through higher levels of food waste.
Caroline Francis, senior lecturer in Industrial Design at RMIT University, said packaging innovation needed to balance sustainability with product performance.
“Packaging innovation is essential to achieving Australia's sustainability goals, but it must be grounded in research," Francis said.
“This Centre enables SMEs to test and validate real-world packaging and processing changes, ensuring that improvements in recyclability and circularity do not come at the expense of product quality or increased food waste.”
Professor Simon Lockrey, REDUCE Program Team Leader at End Food Waste Australia, said the initiative would help SMEs make better-informed packaging and processing decisions.
“The Centre will operate as a national 'source of truth' for SMEs seeking guidance on packaging, processing, and machinery solutions,” Lockrey said.
He said businesses would be able to make evidence-based decisions rather than relying solely on supplier advice, helping them engage more confidently with customers and retail partners.
A key feature of the initiative is a dollar-for-dollar matched funding model, enabling eligible SMEs to undertake applied research projects supported by a national network of 11 university research laboratories. Each project will also include life cycle assessment to evaluate environmental outcomes.
Nerida Kelton, executive director of the AIP, said the centre would help SMEs navigate the technical and regulatory complexities of modern packaging design.
“The shifting landscape of packaging regulations, both domestically and globally, are changing the way companies need to design,” Kelton said.
Kelton said the centre would provide SMEs with access to AIP technical consultants to support their packaging transition.
Michael Moran, CEO of APPMA, said packaging and processing equipment would play a critical role in enabling more sustainable manufacturing.
“This Centre provides an important platform to connect industry expertise with applied research, helping businesses adopt and integrate advanced technologies that improve efficiency, performance and sustainability outcomes across the production line,” Moran said.
Flavia Vaz, director of corporate affairs at Tetra Pak, said the collaboration would give SMEs practical access to expertise and technologies that help reduce food waste while improving operational efficiency.
Eligible Australian SMEs with a valid ABN can apply through a rolling expression of interest process administered by End Food Waste Australia, with successful applicants contributing matched funding towards approved research projects. The centre will also draw on expertise from partner institutions including Queensland University of Technology, The University of Queensland and South Australian Research and Development Institute.
