Delivery platforms urged to reduce plastic pollution

A model made mainly from delivery waste by students of a middle school in Hebei province. Zhao Chenguang/For China Daily

On Aug 20, the NGO wrote an open letter to major meal delivery platforms stating that its calculations show that if every takeout included 1.5 pairs of chopsticks (the average number used) and a major platform received 13 million orders in a day, more than 1.95 million pairs of chopsticks would be required to meet demand.

That scenario would see more than 6,700 trees being felled, resulting in the destruction of forest ecosystems and eco-degradation, the NGO said.

Xue Yue, an expert in plastic pollution at the China National Resources Recycling Association in Beijing, said most of the plastic packaging ends up in landfills or incinerators.

"Most of this packaging is nonbiodegradable, so it can plague the environment for decades or even hundreds of years," he said. "The low cost of nonbiodegradable plastic is the main reason it is so dominant in the market."

He added that the low recycling rate for plastic packing is exacerbating the situation.

Legal challenge

On Sept 1, No 4 Intermediate People's Court in Beijing accepted a lawsuit filed against three delivery platforms by the Green Volunteer League.

The league claims that the disposable packaging used by the platforms, including ele.me and a rival called Meituan, poses a high risk of environmental contamination and ecological damage. Moreover, it criticized platforms for not providing customers with a choice of alternative packaging materials.

Wang Mingyuan, a professor of environmental law at Tsinghua University, spoke out in favor of the lawsuit: "I think it indicates growing awareness of pollution caused by takeout food companies, and could make them amend their practices."

However, he pointed out that litigants rarely win public interest cases because the complexity of such suits means it is difficult to ascribe legal responsibility.

"It's much better to directly contact government departments, which can work with these companies to make improvements," he added.

Many delivery businesses now accept that the sector is damaging the environment, and are adopting measures to combat the problem.