A new chapter in the 20-year history of climate action NGO WRAP has begun, as CEO Marcus Gover and Asia-Pacific managing director Claire Kneller opened the doors on the new WRAP Asia-Pacific office in Adelaide, in a partnership with Fight Food Waste Australia.

The opening cements the organisation’s first official step in becoming an international NGO, with operations already in 40 countries but the first office outside of the UK.

The Asia-Pacific office will enable WRAP to expand its ground-breaking work in the region on food, plastics, and textiles, as well as supporting its partners in the shift to a circular economy.

The space will have a reach far beyond the immediate boundaries of Australia, with the office acting as a base for work across the Asia-Pacific region including countries such as China, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, the Pacific Islands, and New Zealand.

Kneller said, “I’m thrilled to be leading WRAP’s first overseas office and to be able to share WRAP’s expertise and experience in the race to net zero. I’m excited to be able to work closely with our partners in the region, and to seek out new, game changing initiatives that will help us address climate change”.

WRAP is already driving change in the region through initiatives including: halving food loss and waste by leveraging economic systems Indonesia; the Malaysia Sustainable Plastics Alliance; Love Food Hate Waste International; the Australian Food Pact and the National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme.

WRAP aims to drive action against climate change by collaborating with governments, businesses and citizens around the world. Its vision is a thriving world in which climate change is no longer a problem. It seeks to achieve this by halving food waste (in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3), eliminating unnecessary packaging and reducing the environmental impact of clothing.

Among its pioneering work includes research that proved that removing unnecessary plastic packaging and best before dates on uncut fruit and vegetables could prevent 14 million shopping baskets worth of food in the UK going to waste.

The NGO is also the driving force behind the UK Plastics Pact, a world-first, which has helped reduce problematic and unnecessary plastic packaging sold in the UK by 46 per cent since 2018. WRAP has since helped develop Pacts on every inhabited continent on the planet.

Gover said, “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. 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”.

Fight Food Waste Limited CEO Steven Lapidge added, “Fight Food Waste is proud to host and partner with WRAP.  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”.