ISS are an industry leader in integrated facility services and are an innovative partner of SA Health. They are also relentless in tackling food waste and improving triple bottom lines. The team in SA pioneered food technology systems towards a zero-food waste system that they achieved in 2025). This achievement was recognised by several industry bodies and have since won numerous Sustainability awards including most recently the 2025 SA Health Supplier ESG Positive Impact Award.
Food packaging plays an integral part of the food chain. Food security, longevity and shelf life are essential ingredients and aligning them to a circular solution can create challenges to get the mix right. In a continued effort to improve and expand on their ESG portfolio, the ISS executive team, led by Brian Fossey, Kaye Veri and Nigel Jones engaged with PFD Foods Grant McCance and Chris Purcell of Pinnacle Packaging to help provide a total comprehensive packaging solution to their challenges.
Challenges
The challenge for ISS/PFD and Pinnacle Packaging was to provide sustainable packaging solutions that adhered to SA Government Single Use regulations, that did not compromise the longevity of the food and is competitively priced.
Furthermore, for a zero-waste solution in Adelaide’s largest Hospitals required complete and total buy in from all stakeholders which meant a total change in habits.
Types of Packaging Solutions
The ISS team identified the changes needed to transition their existing range and worked with PFD and Pinnacle to substitute some existing products, but more importantly worked with them on new design and create a brand-new line of products. It was important for the ISS team to keep the aesthetics of design and visibility of the food on display but to ensure there were options for the post-consumer waste processing. Certified compostable packaging was a key to this but not and absolute solution as there are still challenges with a one size fits all.
Compostable Packaging as a total solution?
When it comes to true circularity with disposable food Packaging, a one size approach to materials certainly does not fit all. To adopt a singular “compostable” packaging solution is for now, a Utopian concept. To be able to mix food waste with food is a great solution, only if there are commercial composting facilities that will accept the waste and then process it into a usable compost. There are also risks for composters such as foreign packaging contamination that would compromise the process of producing a clean compost. As a national solution, there are very few industrial composting facilities that accepting this type of packaging. In Adelade however, this does exist and the ISS Team worked to achieve this outcome. The team partnered with Remondis Waste Management and SoilCo. This partnership was paramount to processing most of the post-consumer packaging.