PLASTIC

Number 42 on the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations is one word: “Plastics.” Many of you will recognise it as part of the conversation 21-year-old Ben, played by Dustin Hoffman, had with one of his father’s worldly-wise friends at a party to celebrate his graduation. "There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?” says the middle-aged man to the young and confused man about to enter adult life.

 

Fast-forward 52 years, billions of smartphones with heads hunched over and many more billions of dollars in venture capital and we’re at 22,000 tonnes. That’s how much plastic waste is generated each month as a byproduct of online food deliveries in India. The lion’s share comes from Swiggy and Zomato, the two Goliaths in the space, together accounting for over 60 million food deliveries each month. 

 

It’s a mountain that’s piling up with no immediate end in sight. Because organic or eco-friendly alternatives to plastic don’t hold up against the spicy and oily food most Indians love to order. 50% of total online orders are for North Indian food, followed by South Indian and Chinese at 15% and 10% each, approximately. Then as restaurants and cloud kitchens compete in a downward spiral of prices, the 10% they have to spend on packaging per order becomes a cost item to reduce further. Lastly, customers not only do not care for eco-friendly packaging, they often penalise restaurants that use them through bad ratings (because nothing holds up like plastic).