During the height of the pandemic, with restaurant dining rooms shuttered, many American kitchens and dining rooms filled with smiley face plastic delivery bags, disposable cutlery and single-use containers. Since the return to normalcy, the on-demand delivery culture has not abetted, and our appetite for restaurant delivery has only grown.
In fact, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2023 State of the Industry report, two-thirds of U.S. adults said they’re more likely to order takeout from a restaurant now than before the pandemic. And according to the international membership forum, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, plastic waste has doubled from 2000 to 2019, and 40% of it comes from packaging. That’s a lot of clamshell containers.