Door-to-door food delivery service has become increasingly popular in cities due to the fast development of e-commerce and the fast-paced life in China. As food delivery is extremely 1 in China, it creates large amounts of waste due to the plastic containers, bags, and chopsticks that come with each order. This in turn has 2 great environmental concerns for the waste packaging materials. We have therefore estimated and predicted the volume of food delivery packaging waste in China. The results show that the total amount of packaging waste 3 from 0.2 million metric tons in 2015 to 1.5 million metric tons in 2017.
Over packaging is also a concern. The food delivery packaging is not the 4, the better. Instead, it is the more environmental friendly, the better. Therefore, it is high time that regulations were 5 to stop restaurants and companies from spending too much on unnecessary packaging and wrapping. Also, smart policy suggestions should be provided to 6 the pressing issues, particularly using the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle environmental friendly practices.
As the largest city in China, Shanghai has an important role in innovating and contributing to a global solution to the problem of waste. With over 24 million people living in Shanghai, materials sustainability, particularly that of plastics, is a great issue. 7, delivery companies like Saucepan have begun to 8 the plastic usage of the food delivery in Shanghai by using biodegradable(可降解的) packaging in the delivery process. 9, it encourages consumers to both recycle their plastic bags and stay in the business by rewarding customers for every 10 used bags that they return to the company.
The more delivery services that promote sustainability(可持续性), the more suppliers will see that there is a market for environmentally-friendly products. The food delivery service plays a role in the creation of waste in China, and innovating in this specific context can make a big 10 in the new plastics economy.
