With the rise of apps like UberEats, SkipTheDishes, and Foodora, the amount of single use containers are rising too. Restaurant owners like Kyle Webster are trying to change this, with the Toronto restaurant offering a reusable container for a fee, and people are buying into it.

Should consumers be paying more for the dine-and-toss convenience? Or should the industry be responsible for coming up with environmentally friendly packaging? Some Toronto businesses think the answer is both. 

At Farmr restaurant on The Esplanade, before customers pick their protein and sides, they have to decide whether they’re eating lunch on a plate or taking their food to go in one of the restaurant’s reusable containers.  

Customers buy the containers for $4 and then return them for a full refund the next time they’re in. 

The concept is owner Kyle Webster’s way of taking sustainable food to the next level. 

“Takeout is the fastest growing segment in the restaurant business,” said Webster. “We found that a lot of biodegradable containers weren’t getting disposed of properly and ended up in landfill … Same with the recyclable ones.” 

Jo-Anne St.Godard, executive director of the Recycling Council of Ontario, says that’s true. “Unfortunately we’re only recycling just over 10 percent of all the plastics we’re actually creating,” said St.Godard. 

The City of Toronto is launching its second phase of public consultations regarding single use and takeaway items, and residents have until Nov. 4 to submit their thoughts on single-use items.

 

Read the full and original article at CBC.ca.