The five-year period since the 2003 Environmental Performance Review (EPR), was one of the major impacts on the red meat processing (RMP) sector. Major influences and drivers impacting the sector in this period included:

• Drought
• Water restrictions
• Global Financial Crisis (GFC)
• Environmental legislation
• Carbon tax
• Rising fuel costs
• Increased community focus
• Closer neighbours.

This Industry Environmental Sustainability Review is the third in the series. It aims to quantitatively assess how the red meat industry has improved environmental performance in recent years, allow processors to assess how changed practices and facilities have resulted in better performance since the previous study, allow comparison against objective industry performance data and allow external stakeholders to objectively assess how the industry as a whole has improved and demonstrated continual improvement in environmental sustainability.