Advances in technology have transformed access to foods, with online food delivery services (OFDS) growing rapidly. Platforms such as UberEats, Menulog, and DoorDash in Australia, and Meituan and Ele.me in China, make ordering food simple and fast. Usage surged during COVID-19 and remains high. China is the largest global market, valued at $37.7 billion USD in 2020, with 592 million users recorded in 2024. In Australia, usage rose from 17% of the population in 2018 to 25% in 2021.
While convenient, OFDS present both health and environmental challenges. Meals are often energy-dense and nutrient-poor contributing to diet-related risks for chronic disease and undermining United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 on health and wellbeing. Additionally, the reliance on single-use plastics, transport emissions from delivery, and high-carbon meals are an additional burden on the environment. As such, OFD companies are increasingly under pressure to address their environmental impacts. We discuss and compare the differences in sustainability approaches between the top OFD companies in Australia and China.
Australia Food Delivery Company & its actions
Food delivery companies typically rely on delivery riders using their own vehicles, such as cars or motorbikes. To tackle the transport footprint, DoorDash has partnered with Zoomo, an e-bike company, offering discounted prices to encourage delivery riders for the use of e-bikes. This can reduce delivery-related emissions while also lowering operational costs like fuels for riders. DoorDash also uses dynamic routing software to minimize delivery distances as well as grouping multiple orders into one trip to reduce emissions.
In addition, DoorDash launched Project Dash in 2018, partnering with different organisations to deliver surplus food on behalf of charities like food banks. In South Australia, DoorDash has collaborated with Foodbank SA and On The Run to collect surplus food items such as canned vegetables, grains, pasta and deliver to people facing food insecurity and transportation barriers.
To address plastic waste, educational material is provided to restaurants to encourage and educate them on eco-friendly packaging. DoorDash also offers an opt-in system for cutlery ensures these items are only provided when requested.
Similarly, UberEats’ action focuses on green packaging. In 2024, it partnered with Planet Ark in a $13 million multi-year project to provide resources and guidance for restaurants to adopt eco-friendly packaging. Since 2023, UberEats has introduced a Green Packaging Badge in selected cities, awarded to restaurants using at least 90% reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaging. This badge boosts restaurant visibility on the app, creating incentives. Menulog’s environmental measures are less visible, with its focus more on social impact. Its Meal 4 Good program partnered with OzHarvest, every order from participating restaurants on the last Friday of the month funds a meal for Australians facing food insecurity.
China Food Delivery Company & its actions
In China, platforms like Meituan and Ele.me dominate with 592 million users in 2024, and their rapid growth has raised concerns about plastic waste, carbon emissions, and food security. Both platforms have launched large-scale sustainability programs.
Meituan’s Green Mountain Initiative (2017) promotes green packaging and food waste reduction. By 2024, it had released 4.15 million eco-friendly packages, recycled 29,000 tonnes of plastic containers, the “no-tableware” option was the most frequently used with 490 million times. To reduce food waste, its promotion of “small-portion meals” reached 2.9 million restaurants, offering over 9.2 million dishes. Meituan also invests in research, with a RMB 500 million (~US $69 million) Green Tech Fund, and introduced carbon-tracking tools14. By 2024, its drones completed 450,000 orders on 53 routes in cities including Beijing and Shanghai, while autonomous vehicles delivered nearly 5 million orders, cutting transport emissions and improving efficiency.
Ele.me, owned by Alibaba (a technology company with revenue of ~US $130 billion in 2024), focuses on consumer engagement. Through its “Three Meals, Five Reduction” and Blue Planet Plan, Ele.me also promotes smaller portions, reduced disposables, and recycling. As of May 2022, it recorded 1.1 billion “no cutlery” orders, saving 58,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Ele.me also launched the industry’s first consumer-facing carbon account (“e-Carbon”) in 2022. This system tracks and incentivise consumers to make low-carbon choices, such as no cutlery orders. When users choose small-portion meals, they earn points in their e-Carbon account. These points can be redeemed for rewards, e.g., delivery fees or restaurant vouchers.
Looking Ahead: A Sustainable Future for OFDS
Although OFDS platforms promote eco-packaging, cutlery opt-outs, and food-waste partnerships, it is questionable whether these initiatives reflect real progress or a ‘greenwashing’ attempt by companies to appear more sustainable than they are. Such measures may enhance reputation while underlying issues of emissions, packaging, and unhealthy consumption persist. It may also highlight the power imbalance in the digital economy, where small restaurants and merchants may be pressured to adopt platform-driven sustainability measures without the autonomy to shape these changes themselves. In China, the rise of “meal for one” highlights these tensions – portion control reduces waste but may reinforce social isolation. Moreover, automation through drones and autonomous vehicles raises concerns for the gig economy, potentially displacing large numbers of delivery drivers. At the same time, home cooking or supermarket ready meals can also generate packaging and household waste, suggesting that sustainability must also be addressed at a wider food systems level.
Health and sustainability of OFDS must be prioritised and companies must be held accountable for their commitments and actions. Collaboration between food delivery companies, restaurants, government, NGOs, and consumers is essential to build a healthier, more sustainable food environment.
Authors: Chen Ma is an international student from China studying the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics at USYD, and Cherie Chan is an international student from Hong Kong studying the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics at USYD. They bring lived experience and contextual understanding of food delivery practices in China. Stephanie R. Partridge is an Associate Professor, Sydney Horizon Fellow and National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow, and Sisi Jia is a Research Fellow at USYD. They contribute research expertise in nutrition, public health, and sustainability from the Australian perspective.
Competing interest: None
Handling Editor: Neha Faruqui