While Australian environment ministers reported on December 15, 2011 the substantial costs of a national Container Depositing Scheme (CDS), Australia’s leading recycling company Visy is advocating against a similar scheme for Victoria. As previously reported by Australian Food News, the Northern Territory (NT) has now implemented its own “Cash for Containers” recycling scheme, modelled on South Australia (SA)’s Container Deposit scheme, which has been operating since 1977. Although there... ...Read more »

Fonterra announced yesterday a price increase of 17 cents per kilogram (c/kg) of milk solids for Victorian and Tasmanian dairy farmers. The price increase will will be backdated to 1 July 2009 and predicts an average annual price for dairy suppliers of $4.06 per kg of milk solids. “This is our third step-up of the season and means Fonterra’s farmgate price is now 46 c/kg higher than at the season opening in July,” said Heather Stacy who is the National Milk Services Manager for Fonterra. The... ...Read more »

The Federal Government’s Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, has announced a funding program for local governments to foster healthier lifestyles. The move is in line with preventative health measures. These measures include dietary education programs that are aimed at reducing the prevalence of obesity. Minister Roxon said, “The Rudd Government knows that the cost of inaction on chronic disease is too high. We know that cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and diabetes... ...Read more »