NZ households throw out 230,000 tonnes of food waste annually, of which 54% was avoidable - that is, still edible. That’s enough to feed two cities the size of Dunedin or to provide lunches for all school-aged children for three years. Yikes. Vincent spoke to Dr Jeff Seadon, the czar of waste at AUT School for Future Environments about the solution to our recklessness.

Like many councils Auckland Council has a bold ambition to get to zero landfill waste by 2040 - and it recently proposed changes to the region’s waste collection, including food waste bins for turning into compost. Sounds good. But is it? The changes include increasing the size of some kerbside bins and sending the food waste by truck 290km to Reporoa in Waikato. The changes are criticised for not going too far and not far enough. And they highlight just how gnarly this problem is. Well to unpick this for us is Dr Jeff Seadon, a senior lecturer at the AUT School for Future Environments.