We live in a golden age where you can order a pizza at 3am from the back of an Uber and it’ll be on your doorstep by the time you get home. If that’s you, chances are you’re not thinking twice about any of it – including whether or not the empty box should actually be in the recycling bin.
Today Uber Eats announced a $13 million partnership with Planet Ark to help hospitality businesses move towards recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging options by 2030. The delivery giant will also use its platform to educate consumers on how to properly dispose of packaging – like that pizza box – after use.
“The answer in New South Wales, for example, is to rip the lid off. The clean lid goes in your recycling bin and the greasy bottom part goes in the rubbish,” says Uber Eats ANZ general manager Bec Nyst.
“We have more than 50,000 restaurant partners and millions of people using our platform each month … By partnering with Planet Ark we’re unlocking industry expertise that can help educate restaurants and their customers en masse.”
Uber Eats will use the $13 million over the next three years to fund educational resources developed with Planet Ark. The first cab off the rank is a set of criteria, developed by the University of Technology Sydney’s Institute for Sustainable Futures, to help hospo businesses determine how sustainable their packaging is and how they can improve.
Resources will be available to hospo businesses on the Uber Eats website, whether they use the platform or not.
For those that do, Uber Eats will offer incentives – including sharper pricing on sustainable packaging options through its supply partners. Plus, “enhanced visibility” on the platform for businesses that invest in those options.
Planet Ark will also share research with the Restaurant and Catering Association to “ensure materials are accessible to as many stakeholders in the restaurant ecosystem as possible”.
The new partnership between Uber Eats and Planet Ark follows the federal government’s announcement last year that it would now become the national regulator for packaging standards. Uber Eats also recently shared its Restaurant Pulsecheck report, which showed that sustainability was a major focus for restaurant owners.
“This is becoming something that’s increasingly on the radar with consumers,” says Planet Ark CEO Rebecca Gilling. “We want to work with Uber Eats to create a new sustainability standard for the restaurant industry.”