A reusable container restaurant delivery service is launching in D.C.
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Eco-friendly delivery containers. Photo: Courtesy of To Go Green
A reusable container service for restaurant takeout and delivery launches in D.C. this week through a partnership with Uber Eats.
Why it matters: Takeout meals create a ton of single-use plastic waste. Bethesda brothers Kevin and Harrison Kay aim to create a sustainable solution through their startup, To Go Green.
How it works: The company provides six types of durable, reusable polypropylene containers to restaurant partners, who deploy them when customers order meals through the To Go Green platform.
- Uber couriers make deliveries. For carryout and delivery, customers have up to three weeks to return the containers to restaurants for cleaning and reuse. You can return containers directly for free, or arrange a $7.99 pickup through the platform. If you don't return them, you'll be charged a $5 fee per missing container.
- The containers are designed to be light, ventable, and microwavable, and can sustain roughly 1,000 uses.
- The startup is soft-launching with a handful of District restaurants like Alero, Eerkin's Uyghur, and Thaiverse. Other spots like Teaism, Letena Ethiopian, and El Secreto are coming online soon.
Zoom in: "Harrison and I both love ordering takeout, but we're also vegan so we're conscious of our environmental impact," Kevin Kay, 29, tells Axios.
- He and Harrison, 20, were disturbed by the plastic waste pile-up during the pandemic. "We wanted to do something to solve the problem."
- The Kays, both Walt Whitman High School grads, got their startup off the ground thanks to grants and support from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the D.C. mayor's office's Zero Waste DC Plan, which seeks to ban single-waste foodware.
Between the lines: Fees, a hot topic in the delivery field, are designed to be minimal. Customers are charged a small delivery fee and have the option to tip the restaurant directly for carryout or Uber couriers for delivery.
- The company takes a 10% commission from restaurants for delivery and 5% for takeout — below average for third-party services, which have been known to take hefty 25%+ commissions (though often in exchange for perks like higher visibility and lower customer fees).
By the numbers: U.S. restaurants use nearly 1 trillion disposable food service pieces per year, according to reuse advocacy platform Upstream.
- To Go Green estimates its reusables will save around 55,000 pounds of waste for every 1 million single-use containers.
What's next: The Kays have lofty ambitions for To Go Green post-launch, eventually hoping to offer their containers on multiple third-party apps, create cleaning hubs to take that burden off restaurants and expand beyond D.C.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that arranging to have reusable containers picked up by the platform is not free but costs $7.99.