As more people eat from home, the plastic waste generated by single-use food containers aggravates plastic pollution in our ocean, harms the planetary health and stresses our waste management systems. How can we transform the convenience mindset ingrained in a throwaway culture?
At Singapore’s current waste disposal rates, the country would need to build a new incineration plant every 7 to 10 years. By 2035, the Semakau Landfill, a 350ha site will run out of space. With the support of DesignSingapore Council (Dsg)’s Good Design Research initiative, Forest & Whale aims to address the challenge of plastic pollution by reducing the amount of single-use plastic containers used in food delivery and takeaway models.
“On a daily basis, we have observed the large environmental burden caused by disposable food packaging. This has only been aggravated by the high demand for food delivery due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Hence it was the perfect time for this project to start.” Said Mr Gustavo Maggio, Co-Founder of Forest & Whale.
Forest & Whale aims to reduce single-use plastic containers used in food delivery and takeaway models through exploring a spectrum of solutions and experimenting with new materials, including designing a better, user-centric reusable food container for takeaway.
Over a period of 12months , Forest & Whale will be exploring a spectrum of solutions and experimenting with innovative and sustainable materials with the following goals:
- Design a better, user-centric reusable food container for takeaway;
- Create novel, water-soluble or compostable food packaging solutions to close the loop on product lifecycles; and
- Design a hybrid product solution that comprises a shared system of reusable containers to deliver food while maintaining hygiene.
At the end of the project, Forest & Whale will be sharing the knowledge and products that they have developed as part of this project. With these insights, Forest & Whale hopes that there would be enhanced awareness of the sustainable materials, processes and suppliers available to advance the movement of environmentally friendly practices.
If you have an interest to embark on a more sustainable operating model through innovation and design, get in touch with Forest & Whale at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Find out more about the Good Design Research initiative.