Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats deliver a plastic waste nightmare

Sunday Times reporters ordered 15 meals; they contained 103 plastic trays, lids, pots, bags and sachets
Sunday Times reporters ordered 15 meals; they contained 103 plastic trays, lids, pots, bags and sachets
RAY WELLS

Three food delivery firms are generating a plastic waste mountain of more than a billion trays, lids and bags every year.

British consumers order about 200 million meals annually from Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats, the three biggest services. The market has more than doubled in size since 2011 and is worth more than £8bn.

The tons of meals delivered by a small army of moped riders and cyclists have been a boon for the catering industry, but they are deluging homes with plastic. Some £30 meals can contain more than a dozen pieces.

Peter Backman, a consultant to the food industry, said: “Some of the most important customers for home delivery are the so-called millennials, who may be concerned about saving the planet