New York City restaurants partner with DeliverZero to offer reusable takeout containers

new york — Ordering take-out is an easy way to put food on the table, but the convenience could end up in landfills with tons of single-use plastic, but startups are trying to deliver food without waste. increase.

East Village restaurant Raiz prepares vegan Mexican food to order and packages it in new ways that are eco-friendly. Diners can order takeout in non-disposable, reusable containers.

“I love giving people choices,” said Nick Johnson, owner of Raiz.

Johnson partnered with a company called DeliverZero, which partners with 200 restaurants in New York and Colorado. All use the same container system.

“If we can make reuse easier than recycling and make it more transparent, people will adopt that system,” said DeliverZero CEO Lauren Sweeney.

Customers will be charged $1 per order, and the containers can be returned to DeliverZero restaurants for disinfection and reuse, Sweeney said.

“If you create a channel for people to return goods and keep them in circulation, people will be very enthusiastic about it,” Sweeney said.

Other startups such as Dispatch Goods and Bold Reuse encourage similar practices.

A University of Michigan study found that this type of container needs to be reused about 12 times before it has any impact on the environment.

“You can tell it’s been used at least a few hundred times, which means it’s designed to be used up to 1,000 times, and we have a 98% return rate,” says Sweeney.

Customer must return the container within 3 weeks or additional charges will be incurred.

“We have a dishwasher, so we can wash it here,” says Johnson.

Johnson says eco-friendly options are also bottom-friendly. Because DeliverZero charges just a few cents per use of his, much cheaper than buying new single-use packaging.

“It would be nice if it was available for takeout only,” Johnson said.

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