As part of its commitment to reduce plastic pollution across the food delivery sector, Just Eat has expanded its trial of Notpla’s seaweed-coated takeaway box. 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.
Following a short trial with three London takeaways last year, Just Eat is now testing Notpla’s seaweed-coated box with 11 restaurant partners across the UK. The trial is expected to stop 30,000 plastic boxes from entering the waste stream.
The three week UK trial will assess the feasibility of rolling out the box more broadly to Just Eat Takeaway.com’s restaurant partners across its other markets.
Lined with a seaweed and plant composite, 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 sustainably.
Robin Clark, Senior Director of Global Partnerships and Sustainability, said:
“We are absolutely committed to building a more sustainable future for the food delivery industry, using our reach and expertise to help our restaurant partners adopt more environmentally-friendly products and practices. We’ve already taken a number of positive steps to drive this change across our network - from removing single use plastics and pioneering the use of seaweed sauce sachets to increasing the number of electric vehicles in use in food delivery.
“We’re excited to continue our work with Notpla to create a credible alternative to the plastic box that is recyclable, home-compostable and which degrades in a matter of weeks. It has all the benefits of plastic from a practical point of view but none of the negative environmental impacts. We look forward to expanding the use of the boxes more widely with the aim to roll these out across the UK and our other markets, so that customers across the globe can enjoy their favourite takeaways without the plastic waste.”
Pierre Paslier, co-founder and co-CEO of Notpla added:
“Now, more than ever, is the time to adopt sustainable packaging solutions that don't deceive consumers. Unlike any other solution on the market, the Notpla coating is free from any synthetic chemical. Instead we use seaweed, a material proof-tested by nature for 100 million years. No more plastic, no micro plastics, no “forever chemicals”. We’re thrilled to work hand in hand with Just Eat Takeaway.com to pioneer this solution across the UK.”
This project builds on the success of Just Eat and Notpla’s existing partnership, which has also piloted 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 we continue to explore how best to roll this out more widely across the sector.