WWF Thailand teams up with food delivery platforms for plastic reduction

The World Wide Fund for Nature Thailand (WWF Thailand) has joined forces with businesses to reduce plastic in nature, aiming to drive business transformation, behavioural change, and resource-efficient practices under WWF’s plastic reduction programme, Plastic ACTion (PACT).

WWF Thailand announces its first collaboration with major businesses, LINE MAN Wongnai and Foodpanda, to promote plastic reduction in the food delivery industry.

Operating under the "Reduce-Increase-Exchange" concept, the initiative, piloted in four cities in southern Thailand, aims to expand its impact and drive nationwide change. The initiative aims to further collaborate with other businesses and support the organisation’s long-term sustainability target of reducing plastic waste by 30% by the year 2030.

Rattaphon Pitakthepsombat, Deputy Director of Conservation, WWF Thailand said, “Plastic waste is a global issue that affects all of our lives. Every year, 430 million tonnes of plastic are produced worldwide. In Thailand, 75% of plastic waste, or around 1.5 million tonnes annually, is discarded and has not been circulated in the system, posing a risk of leakage into nature and remaining in the oceans for hundreds of years. This has detrimental effects on marine ecosystems, the tourism industry, food security, and human livelihoods. Tackling plastic waste pollution is a priority for WWF, and we are committed to promoting sustainable consumption and production and driving efficient management throughout the entire plastic life cycle.”

The Plastic ACTion (PACT) project was initiated by WWF Singapore under the “No Plastic in Nature Initiative”. Its goal is to encourage businesses to participate in solving plastic waste issues sustainably by sharing knowledge, innovations, and best practices for responsible production and consumption, reducing environmental impact, and promoting consumer behaviour changes to reduce unnecessary single-use plastic packaging.

In Singapore, WWF partnered with major food delivery companies in 2019 under the Plastic ACTion to support their first initiative in implementing an automatic ‘opt-out toggle for plastic cutlery’, successfully reducing over 1 million pieces of single-use plastic waste per week.

In Thailand, WWF Thailand, together with local agencies, piloted the Plastic ACTion initiative through collaboration with 38 local businesses in the food and hospitality industries across four cities: Surat Thani, Koh Samui, Songkhla, and Hat Yai, which are target areas of the Plastic Smart Cities.

The initiative focuses on empowering companies to adapt their business models and processes to be more resource-efficient, by providing businesses with tailored monitoring and evaluation tools and training, communication for behavioural change, guidance, best practices, and network building among stakeholders in the value chain.

"Thailand's business sector is committed and ready to drive the development towards a circular economy. WWF Thailand recognises the potential of platform service providers, such as food delivery companies, which can reach and influence consumers and merchants across the country. We are therefore very pleased to have LINE MAN Wongnai and Foodpanda join the Plastic Action project. Together, we will work to expand plastic reduction activities and drive industry-wide change," Rattaphon added.

In this collaboration, LINE MAN Wongnai and Foodpanda are promoting the transition to sustainable plastic usage in three key areas:

1.    Reduce: Supporting the reduction of single-use plastics in food delivery systems.

2.    Increase: Promoting the use of sustainable materials, eco-friendly packaging, and reusable packaging, to replace single-use plastics.

3.    Exchange: Sharing relevant information, case studies, policies, and best practices to facilitate business transition toward circularity.

Previously, both LINE MAN Wongnai and Foodpanda introduced an "opt out of plastic cutlery" feature on their apps, which has already reduced over 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste. They have also encouraged merchants on their platforms to adopt eco-friendly packaging and partnered with major packaging suppliers in Thailand. The collaboration under the Plastic ACTion initiative is expected to be a key driver in expanding sustainable solutions to plastic waste issues in the food delivery industry.

In Thailand, the Plastic ACTion project runs parallel with the Plastic Smart Cities initiative, which aims to address plastic pollution impacting coastal ecosystems and biodiversity in four pilot cities. The initiative involves collaboration with municipalities, schools, local communities, and recyclers with activities such as plastic-free schools, community waste banks, waste sorting centres, and a take-back program.

The Plastic ACTion initiative operates under the vision of “No Plastic in Nature”, which aligns with WWF's global goal of no new plastic in nature by 2030. The project focuses on eliminating all unnecessary plastics and promoting the use of reusable and recyclable packaging. These efforts aim to support the transition to a circular economy and address the issue of plastic waste in nature.