Your next UberEats order just got more expensive, but also more sustainable. Single-use plastic packaging for takeaways will start costing 30 cents on Friday in Portugal.
This measure had been announced in January but was postponed due to Covid-19. The fee also applies to multi-material packaging with plastic.
While the plastic fee starts this Friday, July 1, it will also apply to aluminum packaging and multi-material packaging with aluminum starting January 1, 2023.
The Portuguese measure looks to promote a reduction in single-use plastic and lead restaurants to purchase reusable packaging.
“The supply of takeaway meals is on the rise, having a direct impact on the increase of single-use packaging. This makes the introduction of measures to decrease their use and waste important”, says the organization that will be regulating the new measure.
Moreover, the new measure reminds restaurants that customers are allowed to use their own reusable recipients as an alternative to the fee.
Half of the income from the fees will go to the state and 40% will go to the Environmental Fund.
In November, the government had already prohibited single-use products on the market, such as straws and plates, according to EU measures.