Zomato, India’s food delivery platform, has launched a new “Low Plastic Packaging” option within its app, enabling users to easily discover and order from restaurants that use sustainable alternatives to plastic packaging.
The filter highlights restaurants participating in Zomato’s “Plastic-Free Future Program”. These restaurants primarily use alternative materials to plastic, such as paper, bagasse (sugarcane fiber), glass, and aluminum, to package their main menu items.
Launched in December 2024, the Plastic-Free Future Program has experienced rapid growth and now includes 10,000 restaurants from more than 290 brands across over 490 cities.
Commenting on the launch, Anjalli Ravi Kumar, Chief Sustainability Officer, said:
Consumers today appreciate having the option to make more sustainable choices when ordering food online. As more alternatives to plastic packaging emerge, environmentally conscious restaurant brands are adopting these solutions more quickly and joining our Plastic-Free Future Program. We have already facilitated 80 million orders from participating restaurants, and we hope users will make use of the filter and contribute to a greener future.
To further reduce the environmental impact of restaurant packaging, Zomato also runs a voluntary plastic recycling initiative based on “100% plastic-neutral deliveries.” Under this program, the company recycles an amount of plastic waste equivalent to that used by restaurants for food delivery packaging. Since FY23, Zomato has recycled approximately 45,000 metric tons of plastic waste.
