Uber Eats has formed a collaboration with a collection of restaurants in London offering reusable containers for their food delivery services.

In an effort to reduce single-use packaging, customers located in central London now have the opportunity to request their takeout food in reusable containers through Uber Eats.

Uber Eats customers can choose a collection date by scanning a QR code, selecting a date for pickup (as early as the next day or no later than three weeks after), rinsing the containers, and waiting for them to be collected.

The collections for the reusable containers will be carried out by couriers using environmentally-friendly modes of transportation such as bikes, electric cars or vans, resulting in low or no emissions.

The trial will be administered by Again, a company that manages a network of packaging cleaning facilities, where the reusable packaging will be thoroughly cleaned and processed prior to being returned to the restaurants. The trial period will last for six months.

The restaurants participating in the reusable container initiative will be situated within a 5km radius of Again CleanCell in Camberwell.

The list includes Ritto's, The Pepper Tree, Donburi & Co, Iro Sushi, Capital Kebab Restaurant, Shawarma Hut, and Viet Quan.

Matthew Price, Uber Eats General Manager UK & Ireland, commented:

"This pilot aims to make reusable packing more accessible for customers and restaurants alike.

We know consumers care about the impact that their decisions have on the environment, and we are delighted to be part of this innovative trial which is another step in our mission to do our part in helping the food delivery ecosystem transition to a cleaner and greener future."

Additionally, Hubbub and Starbucks' Bring It Back Fund are financing the project, which was established in May 2022 to support the testing of new and innovative sustainable packaging solutions and systems in the food and beverage industry.

Alex Rayner, General Manager at Starbucks UK, added:

"We are really proud that Again is receiving funding for such an important reuse initiative and we look forward to seeing how their trial progresses. We've introduced an array of different reusable activations over the years to test and trial new ways to encourage reuse.

Our latest work with Hubbub, the Bring It Back Fund, builds on our reusables work, aiming to find new ways to inspire people and our customers to choose to reuse. It is important for us as a company that we continue to drive industry-wide innovation, as we work to increase reusability and inspire greater reusables uptake in local communities across the UK.

This forms part of our long-term goal to reduce waste and become a resource positive company."