{"id":40081,"date":"2025-09-16T09:49:36","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T09:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmjgh\/?p=40081"},"modified":"2025-09-16T09:49:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T09:49:36","slug":"impacts-of-food-delivery-on-the-environment-can-the-industry-overcome-plastic-waste-carbon-emissions-and-health-challenges-to-build-a-sustainable-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmjgh\/2025\/09\/16\/impacts-of-food-delivery-on-the-environment-can-the-industry-overcome-plastic-waste-carbon-emissions-and-health-challenges-to-build-a-sustainable-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Impacts of food delivery on the environment: Can the industry overcome plastic waste, carbon emissions and health challenges to build a sustainable future?"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

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<\/a> in 2020, with 592 million<\/a> users recorded in 2024. In Australia, usage rose from 17% of the population in 2018 to 25%<\/a> in 2021.<\/p>\n

While convenient, OFDS present both health and environmental challenges. Meals are often energy-dense<\/a> and nutrient-poor<\/a> contributing to diet-related risks for chronic disease and undermining United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3<\/a> on health and wellbeing. Additionally, the reliance on single-use plastics<\/a>, transport emissions<\/a> from delivery, and high-carbon meals<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Australia Food Delivery Company & its actions\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h6>\n

\u200b\u200bFood 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<\/a>, 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<\/a> to minimize delivery distances as well as grouping multiple orders<\/a> into one trip to reduce emissions.<\/p>\n

In addition, DoorDash launched Project Dash<\/a> 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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

To address plastic waste, educational material is provided to restaurants to encourage and educate them on eco-friendly packaging<\/a>. DoorDash also offers an opt-in system for cutlery ensures these items are only provided when requested.<\/p>\n

Similarly, UberEats\u2019 action focuses on green packaging. In 2024, it partnered with Planet Ark<\/a> 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<\/a> 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\u2019s environmental measures are less visible, with its focus more on social impact. Its Meal 4 Good program<\/a> partnered with OzHarvest, every order from participating restaurants on the last Friday of the month funds a meal for Australians facing food insecurity.<\/p>\n

China Food Delivery Company & its actions <\/strong><\/h6>\n

In China, platforms like Meituan and Ele.me dominate with 592 million users<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Meituan’s Green Mountain Initiative (2017)<\/a> 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 \u201cno-tableware\u201d option<\/a> was the most frequently used with 490 million times. To reduce food waste, its promotion of \u201csmall-portion meals\u201d<\/a> 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<\/a>, and introduced carbon-tracking tools14<\/sup>. By 2024, its drones completed 450,000 orders on 53 routes in cities including Beijing and Shanghai, while autonomous vehicles<\/a> delivered nearly 5 million orders, cutting transport emissions and improving efficiency.<\/p>\n

Ele.me, owned by Alibaba<\/a> (a technology company with revenue of ~US $130 billion in 2024), focuses on consumer engagement. Through its \u201cThree Meals, Five Reduction<\/a>\u201d and Blue Planet Plan<\/a>, Ele.me also promotes smaller portions, reduced disposables, and recycling. As of May 2022, it recorded 1.1 billion \u201cno cutlery\u201d orders, saving 58,000 tonnes of CO\u2082 emissions. Ele.me also launched the industry\u2019s first consumer-facing carbon account (\u201ce-Carbon<\/a>\u201d) 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.<\/p>\n

Looking Ahead: A Sustainable Future for OFDS <\/strong><\/h6>\n

Although OFDS platforms promote eco-packaging, cutlery opt-outs, and food-waste partnerships, it is questionable whether these initiatives reflect real progress or a \u2018greenwashing\u2019 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 \u201cmeal for one\u201d highlights these tensions \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Authors:<\/strong> Chen Ma<\/em> is an international student from China studying the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics at USYD, and Cherie Chan<\/em> 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<\/em> is an Associate Professor, Sydney Horizon Fellow and National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow, and Sisi Jia<\/em> is a Research Fellow at USYD. They contribute research expertise in nutrition, public health, and sustainability from the Australian perspective.<\/p>\n

Competing interest:<\/strong> None<\/p>\n

Handling Editor:<\/strong> Neha Faruqui<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  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 […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":402,"featured_media":39969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436,1],"tags":[438],"class_list":["post-40081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-health","category-uncategorized","tag-environmental-health"],"yoast_head":"\nImpacts of food delivery on the environment: Can the industry overcome plastic waste, carbon emissions and health challenges to build a sustainable future? - BMJ Global Health blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This blog discusses the impact of food delivery on the environment with examples of online food delivery services from Australia and China.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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