Focus on Arts and Ecology

A WeChat article published September 15 has sparked a fierce internet debate after highlighting the enormous plastic waste from single-use plastics provided with online food orders. An article in Southern Weekly depicts two sides: one saying food delivery, which uses between 730 million to 2.92 billion containers annually, is an environmental threat, another that the sector is being unfairly villainised. However, following a lawsuit against food delivery companies for wasteful practices, many now allow customers to select “no utensils” when ordering. Delivery platform Ele.me even gives customers points for going utensil-free.

One of the problems is that paper pulp alternatives often cost double and cannot handle hot items like soups as well as plastics. Such alternatives may not be more environmentally friendly either, as utensils made from mixing plastics with organic-matter-based materials can actually use more plastics than an ultralight polypropylene foam utensil. Recycling the containers was also found to be problematic. The price of used plastics has plummeted by 40% in recent years to 3,000 yuan/tonne, which is the break-even price for the recycling industry. And the oily containers are difficult to process.

Ele.me responded to the debate by convening a meeting to set environmental standards for the food delivery industry on September 19.