Just Eat has made a seaweed-coated takeaway box made by packaging start-up Notpla available to its restaurant partners in Ireland to reduce the amount of single-use plastic in the food delivery sector.
The Notpla boxes are lined with a seaweed-based coating that is designed to be water-resistant, greaseproof and to replace the usual plastic-lined containers typically used in the industry.
The rollout to Ireland follows a successful trial in the UK and launches by the delivery app company in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Poland.
The containers will be available to the 3,530 restaurants partnered with Just East in Ireland through its web shop.
Amanda Roche-Kelly, managing director of JustEatTakeaway.com Ireland, said: “While there’s no quick fix to tackling sustainability, there are a multitude of ways companies and individuals can make an immediate impact – every small step we take collectively, can have a lasting effect on our climate targets and ambitions.”
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Jaz Rabadia, global head of responsible business and sustainability at JustEatTakeaway.com, added: “Improving the packaging used to deliver food to homes is an impactful way for us to help build a more sustainable future for the food delivery sector.
"By using our reach and expertise to help our restaurant partners adopt more environmentally-friendly products and practices, we are able to influence operations not directly in our control.
“We’re excited to extend our work with Notpla to introduce a recyclable and home-compostable container which degrades in a matter of weeks. Ireland is one of six markets now offering Notpla packaging to our restaurant partners.”
Just Eat Takeaway.com, the result of an £8.2m merger of Just East and Takeaway.com three years ago, saw revenues increase by a third to €5.3bn last year and said it was on course for profitability, with orders in the UK and Ireland having doubled over the previous two years.
In the first half of 2022, however, orders in the UK and Ireland fell 7% to 132.1m, although gross transaction value remained stable at €3.3bn and revenues were up 13% to €658m.
The company recorded an adjusted EBITDA loss in the UK and Ireland for the first half of €18m, improving from -€58m, and made an overall earnings loss of €134m, compared to -€189m a year ealrlier.
(Pic: Just Eat
