Editing Take-out (section)

==Disposable serviceware waste==
[[File:Wegwerf-Esstäbchen.jpg|thumb|upright|Disposable chopsticks in a university cafeteria trash bin in Japan]]
{{main|Disposable food packaging}}
[[Packaging]] of fast food and take-out food is necessary for the customer but involves a significant amount of material that ends up in landfills, recycling, composting, or litter.<ref>{{Citation | title =Reducing Wasted Food & Packaging: A Guide for Food Services and Restaurants| publisher =US Environmental Protection Agency | volume =EPA-909-K-14-002| url =http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/foodwaste/docs/reducing_wasted_food_pkg_tool.pdf| access-date =March 9, 2015}}</ref>  Foam containers for fast-food were the target of environmentalists in the U.S. and were largely replaced with paper wrappers among large restaurant chains.<ref>[http://www.plasticstoday.com/blogs/Some-fast-food-brands-look-beyond-polystyrene-others-embrace-it-08120201301 Some fast-food brands look beyond polystyrene, others embrace it], Plastics Today, Heather Caliendo, August 12, 2013</ref>

In 2002, [[Taiwan]] began taking action to reduce the use of [[disposable tableware]] at institutions and businesses, and to reduce the use of plastic bags. Yearly, the nation of 17.7 million people was producing 59,000 tons of disposable tableware waste and 105,000 tons of waste plastic bags, and increasing measures have been taken in the years since then to reduce the amount of waste.<ref>Env. Research Foundation (undated). [http://www.rachel.org/?q=en/node/149 Taiwan's Plastics Ban.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110611051123/http://www.rachel.org/?q=en/node/149 Archived]).</ref> In 2013, Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) banned outright the use of disposable tableware in the nation's 968 schools, government agencies, and hospitals.  The ban was expected to eliminate 2,600 metric tons of waste yearly.<ref>China Post. June 5, 2013. [http://www.chinapost.com.tw/print/111477.htm EPA to ban disposable cups from June 1].</ref>

In [[Germany]], [[Austria]], and [[Switzerland]], laws banning the use of disposable food and drink containers at large-scale events have been enacted. Such a ban has been in place in [[Munich, Germany]] since 1991, applying to all city facilities and events. This includes events of all sizes, including very large ones (Christmas market, Auer-Dult Faire, Oktoberfest and Munich City Marathon). For small events of a few hundred people, the city has arranged for a corporation to offer rental of crockery and dishwasher equipment. In part through this regulation, Munich reduced the waste generated by [[Oktoberfest]], which attracts millions of people,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-000283.php|title=Realbeer.com: Beer News: Oktoberfest visitors set records |publisher=realbeer.com}}</ref> from 11,000 metric tons in 1990 to 550 tons in 1999.<ref>Pre-Waste EU. (undated). [http://www.prewaste.eu/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=255&Itemid=94 Ban on disposable food and drink containers at events in Munich, Germany (Pre-waste factsheet 99)]</ref>

China, by virtue of the size of its population and the surging popularity of food delivery apps, such as Meituan and Ele.me, faces significant challenges disposing of or recycling takeout food [[packaging waste]].<ref name="Zhong and Zhang, NYT 5/28/2019">{{cite news |last1=Zhong |first1=Raymond |last2=Zhang |first2=Carolyn |title=Food Delivery Apps Are Drowning China in Plastic |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/technology/china-food-delivery-trash.html |access-date=4 June 2019 |publisher=The New York Times Company |date=May 28, 2019 |quote=The astronomical growth of food delivery apps in China is flooding the country}}</ref> According to a 2018 study published in ''Resources, Conservation and Recycling'', for the first half of 2017, Chinese consumers ordered 4.6 billion takeout meals, generating "significant environmental concerns". The study's authors estimated that packaging waste from food delivery grew from 20,000 metric tons in 2015 to 1.5 million metric tons in 2017.<ref name="Song et al, 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Song |first1=Guanghan |last2=Zhang |first2=Hui |last3=Duan |first3=Huabo |last4=Xu |first4=Ming |title=Packaging Waste from Food Delivery in China's Megacities |journal=Resources, Conservation and Recycling |date=March 2018 |volume=130 |pages=227–228 |doi=10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.12.007 |bibcode=2018RCR...130..226S |url=https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/elsevier/packaging-waste-from-food-delivery-in-china-s-mega-cities-FWSKD1p1mK? |access-date=4 June 2019|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 2018, [[Meituan]] reported making over 6.4 billion food deliveries, up from 4 billion a year earlier.<ref>[http://meituan.todayir.com/attachment/2019041121050100033461369_en.pdf 2018 company report] from [[Meituan]] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604223553/http://meituan.todayir.com/attachment/2019041121050100033461369_en.pdf |date=June 4, 2019 }}</ref>

Because takeout and delivery meals in China include [[disposable product|single-use]] chopsticks, which are made from wood or bamboo, the growth in food delivery also has an impact on China's forests.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Luo |first1=Chris |title=China's 80 billion disposable chopsticks a 'burden' on forests |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1188299/chinas-80-billion-disposable-chopsticks-burden-forests |access-date=4 June 2019 |agency=South China Morning Post |publisher=SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST PUBLISHERS LTD. |date=March 11, 2013}}</ref> China produces about 80 billion pairs of single-use [[chopsticks]] yearly, the equivalent of 20 million 20-year-old trees.<ref name="Gates, 3/11/2019">{{cite web |last1=Gates |first1=Sara |title=Disposable Chopstick Demand Is Killing China's Forests As Annual Production Reaches 80 Billion |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chopstick-china-forests_n_2853033 |website=HuffPost.com |access-date=4 June 2019 |date=March 11, 2013}}</ref> About 45 percent are made from trees &ndash; mainly cottonwood, birch, and spruce, the remainder being made from bamboo. [[Japan]] uses about 24 billion pairs of these disposables per year, and globally about 80 billion pairs are thrown away by an estimated 1.4 billion people. In 2013 in Japan, one pair of disposable chopsticks cost US$0.02. One pair of reusable chopsticks cost $1.17, and each pair could be used 130 times. A cost of $1.17 per pair divided by 130 uses comes to $0.009 (0.9¢) per use, less than half the cost of disposable. Campaigns in several countries to reduce this waste are beginning to have some effect.<ref>[http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/disposable-chopsticks-strip-asian-forests/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 Disposable Chopsticks Strip Asian Forests]. By [[Rachel Nuwer]]. ''The New York Times''. October 24, 2011.</ref><ref>Ecopedia. 2013. [http://www.ecopedia.com/environment/how-wooden-chopsticks-are-killing-nature/ How Wooden Chopsticks Are Killing Nature]. By Alastair Shaw.</ref>{{update inline|date=August 2022}}