Uber Eats and Visa partner for more sustainable restaurant packaging

Uber and Visa have recently announced a new program designed to support small-and medium-sized businesses in their transition to green and sustainable packaging solutions, as part of a broader year-long effort to support SMBs who use Uber Eats to grow their businesses.

The two companies will make 1 million dollars accessible to qualifying Uber Eats restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Madrid to be used towards funding sustainable packaging solutions to help transition to a greener future, which hospitality industry research indicates is a top priority for 2023.

Uber and Visa have launched this new initiative in Davos, Switzerland, where the companies are highlighting impact from their shared 2022 Grants for Growth program which has supported US small business owners still recovering from the pandemic and other unexpected events. Merchants received microgrants of 10,000 dollars used for payroll, paying outstanding debt to vendors, upgrading payment technology infrastructure, and other immediate operational costs.

Pierre-Dmitri Gore-Coty, SVP and Global Head of Delivery for Uber affirmed:

Building on the success of our shared support for small and medium-sized businesses, I'm very happy to be turning our efforts with Visa towards how we can help restaurant owners reduce packaging waste and contribute to the fight against climate change. Single-use packaging is used in nearly every takeout order worldwide. With Visa and our restaurant partners we can work towards reducing waste and helping small businesses thrive.

Douglas Sabo, Chief Sustainability Officer, Visa said:

With consumers continuing to express desires to live more sustainably, businesses across sectors have a notable opportunity to adopt more sustainable practices to meet this demand. Visa is excited to expand on our partnership with Uber Eats to help small businesses to not be left out of the sustainable business transformations this moment requires.

A 2022 study by the US National Restaurant Association indicates that while the transition to sustainable packaging is a priority to many restaurants, the cost makes it difficult. It's the hope of Uber Eats and Visa that this new program is a small step in a positive direction for small business owners. Details of the new partnership, including how restaurants can qualify and apply for funding will be shared here in the coming months.

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