As discounts have offset consumers’ resistance to online ordering, delivery companies are now thinking of ways to offset their mounting plastic footprint.

On Friday as part of the Earth Day, food delivery major Zomato announced 100 per cent plastic neutral deliveries from April 22 onwards. This means, the company will recycle more than 100 per cent of all plastic utilised in the pacakaging of each order. 

While the company did not disclose the investment towards this initiative, Bhagyashree Bhansali, Founder CEO of The Disposal Company, estimates that Zomato would be investing a minimum of ₹10 lakh per month towards this initiative. The Disposal Company helps consumer brands in India and Singapore become plastic neutral. 

CEO of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal, also acknowledged the quantum of investment and said, “It is going to cost us a significant amount of money and of course, going to affect our P&L negatively. However, I strongly believe that what’s good for the planet is good for business. I also believe that profits happen when you do everything else right. And this is surely a step in the right direction.”

“As per industry standards, consumer brands spend about ₹0.35 - ₹0.95 per unit to become plastic neutral. For instance, a skincare brand like mCaffeine spends about ₹3 lakh per month. In the case of QSR brand SLAY Coffee, the brand spends about ₹1 lakh per month,” Bhansali told BusinessLine

Sustainable Food Packagaing

Goyal added that Zomato is also aiming to deliver over 100 million additional eco-friendly food delivery orders (orders in sustainable packagaing) over the next three years, by supporting restaurants in switching to affordable and sustainable packaging alternatives. 

Zomato’s arch-rival, Swiggy has also been experimenting with an environment-friendly food packaging startup, InfinityBox. In December 2021, InfinityBox was running a food delivery pilot in Bengaluru, where it offered eco-friendly food packaging options to Swiggy orders placed from five restaurants (Chinese trail, Say Noodles, Chinese BAE, MOMOZ, and Chopstick). In early 2020, InfinityBox also ran a similar pilot in Mumbai which was funded by Swiggy. 

“It’s about time more businesses realise that sustainability is the cost of doing business - it’s no longer permissible to simply internalize profits and externalize all costs to the environment. We see a growing trend towards brands taking measures to be more sustainable,” said Dhwani Mehta, Co-founder, and CEO of Ecovia, which offers returnable packaging solutions to e-commerce and hyperlocal brands.

People from all walks of life have become habitual of ordering food online, leading to the accumulation of low-value plastic like straws, cups, containers, and tapes in the environment. Zomato estimates that approximately 43gram plastic is being used in packaging of each food order. 

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