Just Eat and Notpla collaborate to develop world’s first seaweed-lined box for takeaway sector
Just Eat has teamed up with Notpla to launch the world’s first seaweed-lined box for the takeaway sector. The box is fully recyclable and can decompose in four weeks in a home compost.
It is estimated that 500 million plastic takeaway boxes are used across the UK takeaway industry each year, and even if these plastic boxes get reused multiple times, they often end up in landfill.
Just Eat is now testing Notpla’s new seaweed-lined box with three restaurant partners in London, which will stop about 3,600 plastic boxes from entering the waste stream.
The London trial will assess the feasibility of rolling out the box more broadly to Just Eat’s restaurant partners across the UK followed by other Just Eat markets.
Lined with seaweed, the cardboard container is made from tree & grass pulp with no synthetic additives. It has been designed to be water-resistant and greaseproof, so customers can still enjoy their takeaway without the plastic waste.
This project builds on the success of Just Eat and Notpla’s existing partnership, which has been piloting the use of seaweed-based sauce sachets with a variety of restaurants.
So far, the trials have stopped over 46,000 plastic sachets from entering customer homes, and they are now working with Hellmann’s to roll the sachets out even further.
Andrew Kenny, Just Eat UK Managing Director, said: “At Just Eat, we are committed to using our scale and influence to drive a more sustainable future for the food delivery industry. From removing single use plastics to pioneering the use of seaweed sauce sachets, we’ve already taken a number of positive steps to encourage more environmentally-friendly behaviour among our restaurant partners.
Friends of the Earth plastic campaigner, Tony Bosworth, added: “The takeaway food industry creates a mountain of waste and plastic pollution every year, so we welcome Just Eat's efforts in trying to improve the situation. “With hundreds of millions of takeaway meals ordered through delivery firms every year, the industry must make the development of sustainable, non-harmful packaging solutions a top priority. While waste reduction and the use of reusables should be the ultimate goal, we hope this is a great step on that journey.”