Brits love takeaways, but if they also love the planet, they should do away with plastic packaging
Takeaways are a great staple of life in the UK, but present one challenge: the amount of plastic used to transport them. Politicians and businesses can do more to challenge this status quo, writes Jaz Rabadia
Britain has long had a love affair with takeaways. And why wouldn’t we? There’s nothing better than ordering restaurant quality sushi or a delicious curry to your doorstep. On average, 15 per cent of Brits order one takeaway per week, according to YouGov. In 2022 Just Eat fulfilled around 260 million orders across the UK and Ireland – delivering enough pizzas to reach the height of 9,500 leaning towers of Pisa.
But our love of takeaways can come at a cost. An estimated half a billion plastic takeaway boxes are used across the UK hospitality industry each year. Even if these boxes are reused by consumers, they can often end up in landfill. Only 40 per cent of people recycle plastic takeaway boxes, and only a quarter regularly reuse them at home, according to a consumer survey earlier this year. This is adding to the estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic which flow into our oceans each year.
Earlier this year, governments across the UK announced they would be introducing bans on certain single use plastic items, including plastic plates and cutlery. While these moves are welcome, they are missing one key item – plastic takeaway boxes.
We’ve been reflecting on how to drive change across the industry, by encouraging our partners to adopt more sustainable alternatives to the plastic box. Plastic-free takeaway packaging does exist, but isn’t yet produced at scale so it’s not economically viable for mass adoption. Many alternatives still contain micro plastics or are unsuitable for some types of foods, particularly ‘wetter’ foods like curry, which can leak through packaging.
However, there is growing demand for more sustainable packaging options, from both consumers and restaurants. Seventy-one per cent of consumers we surveyed said the use of environmentally friendly packaging by restaurants is important to them. Yet with cost and suitability for transportation cited as the top barriers to using sustainable packaging, many still resort to plastic boxes.
There are some exciting businesses making great strides in developing innovative solutions, including our partner Notpla which makes biodegradable seaweed-coated packaging. These businesses need to be given the opportunity to scale, to keep investing and to develop a wider range of products at more affordable prices. To do this, the government must send a clear signal to the market that plastic boxes should ultimately be phased out.
Action to tackle plastic waste is already having an impact, with the plastic packaging tax driving up the use of recycled content.
Policymakers should convince businesses they’re serious about this policy area, so that investment in alternative solutions can start scaling now.
The government should also support SMEs to move to sustainable alternatives, so that our independent restaurants are not left behind. Start ups and scale ups should also be supported as they invest in innovation and develop the products that will cater to the takeaway industry and consumer needs.We know the takeaway sector has a role to play in tackling the challenge of plastic waste, and supporting restaurant partners to move away from plastic packaging. But if we are to make a real change in the amount of plastic produced and thrown away in the UK, this topic needs greater attention from politicians too.