Transitional agrifood system driversThis research investigates roles of policy, planning and governance at different scales on producer decisions to integrate sustainable plant-based protein farming into their practices, and how these decisions are influenced by and interact with climate-driven shocks. With legumes as a cornerstone of PBP farming, this work is expected to improve empirical and theoretical knowledge informing how and where sustainable PBP practices will have positive outcomes for people and the environment.
Australian agrifood hubsThe future of the Australian food landscape requires research that involves a range of disciplines, including agriculture, marketing, supply chain logistics, sustainability, the circular economy, science, and technology. Urban and regional planning are also significant as they have a role to play in terms of facilitating of appropriate environments, both physical and social, to allow future food systems to thrive.
Mapping Southern Queensland’s agrifood ecosystemLimited knowledge of the food and agribusiness ecosystem in the Sunshine Coast and Noosa restricts access to distribution and infrastructure. This project will study ecosystem members, roles, resources, and infrastructure to drive sector growth and innovation.
Coffs Agrifood Living LabThe project is establishing a ‘Living Lab’ (i.e. Living Laboratory) in Coffs Harbour to design the Precinct and act as a hub where other solutions can be developed to evolve the region's agrifood ecosystem.
Spatially enabling Australian tree cropsThe project will be collating industry information such as variety, planting date, management, productivity etc to each established orchard polygon. This collation of information will directly assist market access, traceability, biosecurity response, yield forecasting, carbon storage, regeneration and drought resilience, and will set a new standard for all other agricultural industries.
Exploring freight demand and network accessibility in the Namoi regionThe project successfully visualised future freight demands in kilo-tonnes for agricultural commodities originating from the Namoi region. The visualisation relies on the actual projections made by Transport for NSW at the SA3-level and their downscaled estimations at the LGA level. The downscaling process utilises a linear proportional estimation based on the available total production data for such commodities from ABS/DPI.
Consumer drivers for fresh produce purchasingThis project aims to track online personal food preferences and establish a hierarchy of drivers for purchasing produce, including affordability, access, and source. The goal is to provide invaluable insights into consumer behaviour for NSW farmers, enabling them to align their production and marketing strategies accordingly.
Discrete choice modelling in packagingThe objective of this project is to develop two economic discrete choice models to determine the economic viability of optimal packaging options and in so doing support researchers in core experiment activiites by providing guidance and direction.
Dynamic LCS assessment of thermoform packagingThe dynamic Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment methodology proposed by FPP R&D and UNSW will compromise three parts: environmental life cycle assessment (e-LCA), life cycle costing (LCC) and social life cycle assessment (s-LCA).
Developing transparent eco-friendly food packagingFP Paradigm Pty Ltd (FPP) R&D is seeking to transition the current food packaging standard of transparent petroleum-based material to transparent non-petroleum based sustainable material that is commercially viable within five years. The challenge lies in embedding a circular economy framework within the manufacture of transparent food packaging materials at scale while retaining or improving final product properties and quality (e.g., transparency, long-term durability, stability, strength). This project aims to develop a process which uses carbon dioxide (CO2)-containing waste streams as the foundation for manufacturing transparent food packaging materials (via thermoforming), moving away from petroleum-derived products. CO2 emissions from the gasification of biomass from agri-food wastes and/or waste plastic will be utilised in conjunction with water (H2O) and sunlight to fabricate monomers. The monomers are the building blocks for polymers used to formulate the plastics used to manufacture the transparent food packaging materials.
Developing colourimetric sensor indicators for packagingThis project aims to develop a low-cost sensor technology designed to solve food traceability problems and reduce food waste. In the event of a food contamination incident, supermarkets choose to throw away all batches of food that may have been contaminated, even if only a small portion of the food is affected.
Colourimetric sensor labels for foodThis project aims to develop colourimetric sensor indicators attached on packaging that enables real-time monitoring of fresh produce quality by visual colour changes.
Aqueous technology for recycled PETPlastic waste has become one the biggest challenges impacting humankind. Low degradation rates of plastic leads to prolonged environmental problems, and there are climate change issues with the release of greenhouse gas both during the production, recycling and environmental degradation. Different recycling methods exist, but only a few are commercially employed. All current methods have shown some commercial promise; however, they have significant limitations.
Thermoforming innovations in food packagingFrom a wider societal perspective, it is of utmost importance that materials synthesis is in harmony with environmental concerns, making use of renewable resources and supporting the circular economy. There is significant incentive to replace petrochemical building blocks, such as styrene frequently employed in thermoforming food and beverage packaging applications, with bio-based monomers derived from natural plants. The overall aim of this project is to prepare new materials suitable for thermoforming applications for food and beverage packaging based on copolymers and (co)polymer blends involving styrene and various sustainable (biomass) vinyl monomers. Overall, this project relates to the objective of transforming the current food and beverage packaging market from virgin plastics to sustainable materials by providing a new pathway to synthesis of sustainable food and beverage packaging materials from sustainable, renewable monomers (polymer building blocks) derived from biomass.
Nano sensor technologyThis project aims to develop a nano sensor manufacturing technology for real-time monitoring of food and food packaging quality.
Modelling Australian agrifood supply chainsFreight transport systems deviate from passenger transport systems in: accounting for multiple dimensions in mode-choice models, freight generation models, trip estimation and other key decision-making models. For policymakers and stakeholders, understanding freight transport's unique needs is crucial in making efficient and effective choices.
Modelling a sustainable floor-space mixUrban planning has extended its vision from horizontal to vertical to volumetric. This complex social and economic environment implicates 3D floor use change. We aim to establish an analytical model framework applying the principles of Volumetric Urbanism to assist the development of smart and sustainable urban floor space mixed use strategy.
Methane reduction in ruminantsAgrisma is developing a proof-of-concept for a novel encapsulation technology for feed additives and its application in the reduction of methane production in ruminants. The project will look to create nanoparticles, investigate the stability, and efficiency of the encapsulation and monitor the properties of the long-term delivery system of our active ingredients in ruminants.
Predictive modelling of egg productionDevelopment of predictive diagnostic algorithms using machine learning models have the potential to improve the management of egg production. The project aims to develop supervised machine learning algorithms that are useful to assess the predictive ability of forecast parameters (and the impact of various events that these parameters describe) and to predict the performance of egg production in free-range hens in Australia.
Sustainable construction materials from agrifood wastesThe project aims to upcycle EcoMag's hydrated magnesium carbonate/magnesium (di)hydroxide (HMC/MDH) product, derived from a blend of agri-food wastes agrifood waste into low-carbon construction material.