How Princess Alexandra Hospital benefits the entire hospital community by reducing landfill

As Brisbane’s second largest hospital, PAH has more than 1050 beds and serves over 2300 meals per day, with the changing needs of patients each day resulting in substantial amounts of unused food.  

After introducing the enrich360® solution in March 2020, the hospital is now converting that food waste into nutrient-rich fertiliser every 24 hours. It’s then used on the hospital gardens and grounds, given to patients for their own gardening projects, donated to community programs and social enterprise businesses such as HELP nurseries, and even sold to generate income for the Princess Alexandra Foundation.

“By dehydrating the food waste it’s not going to landfill, saving us $50,000 a year. It’s new technology in hospitals and we’re getting a lot of interest from other hospitals wanting to learn what we’re doing.” - Noel Matson - Director, Operational Services.

The profits from the fertiliser are split between the Foundation, which funds vital medical research, and to fund further sustainability initiatives.

We’re part of what we call a 360 community, which is a group of like-minded people who want to look at how we minimize our food waste. We’ve made a concerted effort to look at how we can be more sustainable while also driving cost savings and being more efficient.
Noel Matson
Director, Operational Services & Sustainability Committee member