UK-founded NGO opens Adelaide office in partnership with Australian CRC Fight Food Waste

Climate action non-government organisation Wrap has opened an Asia-Pacific office in Adelaide, Australia.

The move will help the UK-founded organisation expand its work on food waste reduction, plastic pollution, and sustainable textiles, as well as support partners in the shift to a circular economy. 

The office will act as a base for work throughout the region, including China, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, the Pacific Islands and New Zealand. 

“The opening of our new office in Australia is not just a new premises for Wrap, it is the first step in our strategy to extend our reach and increase our impact in the region,” said Marcus Gover, chief executive of Wrap UK.

“We are immensely proud of our presence in Australia and our aim is to bring people together and drive change across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific.”

Adelaide was selected as the location for the Asia-Pacific office due to Wrap’s close partnership with Australian cooperative research centre Fight Food Waste. The office is located within Fight Food Waste’s head office at the University of Adelaide’s Urrbrae campus.

“Fight Food Waste is proud to host and partner with Wrap,” said Steven Lapidge, chief executive of Fight Food Waste. “It’s a reflection of our long-standing relationship, Wrap’s membership of the Fight Food Waste CRC (the world’s largest food waste R&D organisation) and more recently, on delivering the Australian Food Pact. 

“I look forward to seeing Wrap Asia-Pacific grow and flourish from our shared headquarters in Adelaide.” 

Founded in 2000, Wrap works with governments, end consumers and some of the biggest global brands such as Google and Unilever, to ensure the earth’s resources are used more sustainably. 

Wrap’s work includes research that proved that removing unnecessary plastic packaging and best before dates on uncut fruit and vegetables could prevent 14m shopping baskets worth of food in the UK going to waste. This led to a wave of UK retailers removing best before dates from fresh uncut produce.