The food delivery company is planning to introduce a 50-strong new line of eco-packaging and - from next week - users will find an extra button on its app where they will have to opt-in if they want disposable cutlery.
When Deliveroo trialled the latter initiative in the UAE 100% of restaurants involved saw a reduction of cutlery being used, with 85% seeing a reduction of over 50%. The Diner restaurant trialled a cutlery opt in with Deliveroo and saw a 90% reduction in plastic cutlery used.
The company intends to use its purchasing to make eco-friendly packaging more affordable for its restaurants and also hopes to persuade manufacturers to start producing more alternatives to polluting plastics.
“It’s going to involve everyone in the food industry coming together to do this and also customers playing their part,” says Deliveroo product marketing manager Emma Cox. “We’ve been sitting down with our restaurant partners and manufacturers to identify where there are gaps and where we need to find better plastic alternatives.”
“We’ve had a wave of customers asking us to do more and that’s why we’re so committed to delivering on this. We want to deliver food in the best way possible whilst also reducing our impact on the environment.”
Pressure is mounting on restaurants and other types of food business to reduce the amount of plastic they use following the broadcast of Blue Planet 2, which highlighted the devastating effect plastics were having on marine life.
A number of restaurateurs are planning to make their venues plastic-free - including Temper's Neil Rankin and Spring's Skye Gyngell - and sandwich chain Pret a Manger has introduced a 10p plastic bottle deposit and free drinking water in some locations in a bid to reduce plastic waste.