A new chapter in the twenty-year history of climate action NGO WRAP began today, as CEO Marcus Gover and Asia-Pacific Managing Director Claire Kneller opened the doors on the new WRAP Asia-Pacific office in Adelaide, Australia, in 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 support its partners in the shift to a circular economy.

The space will reach far beyond Australia’s immediate boundaries, 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.

Claire Kneller, WRAP Asia-Pacific Managing Director, 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.”

Marcus Gover, WRAP UK CEO, said: “The opening of our new office in Australia is not just a new premise 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 aim to bring people together and drive change across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and the Pacific. 

Steven Lapidge, CEO at Fight Food Waste Limited, said:

“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.”

WRAP is already driving change in the region through initiatives including:

• Halving food loss and waste by leveraging economic systems Indonesia
• Malaysia Sustainable Plastics Alliance
• Love Food Hate Waste International
• Australian Food Pact
• National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme

The opening will be marked by comments from Lucy Hood (Member of the South Australian House of Assembly for Adelaide), Leila Naja Hibri (CEO of the Australian Fashion Council), Matt Davis (CEO of The Salvation Army Australia), Steven Lapidge, (CEO of Fight Food Waste Ltd.) and many others at an event at Electra House, Adelaide.

WRAP is driving action against climate change by collaborating with governments, businesses, and citizens around the world. WRAP’s 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 from going to waste.

One hundred retailers, representing nearly two-thirds of clothing placed on the UK market, have also committed to a WRAP-led target to reduce the environmental impact of the textile market. 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 percent since 2018. WRAP has since helped develop Pacts on every inhabited continent on the planet.