sustainable packaging framework for Uber Eats in France

Case study

Context

Uber has made public commitments to move its restaurant partners to sustainable packaging, with a first milestone set for 2025. But what counts as “sustainable” varies by market: regulation, sorting and composting infrastructure, and materials availability differ from one country to the next.

For France, Uber Eats had no reference framework able to say, material by material, what could legitimately be called sustainable against French law and against recycling channels that actually work on the ground. Without it, Uber Eats could not collect reliable packaging data from its merchants, steer them toward better alternatives, or report externally on its progress in one of its priority markets.

Our approach

GATE C built a nine-criterion sustainability framework (legal prohibition, necessity, impact-bearing substances, recyclability, compostability, reusability, recycled content, renewable content, reduced environmental impact), grounded directly in French law (the AGEC law, the climate and resilience law, the EGalim law) and in the reference technical methodologies, notably CITEO’s and its TREE tool. Every material and liner combination used in delivery packaging, more than twenty in total (PET, PE, PP, aluminium, paper, bagasse), was tested against the five legal recyclability criteria.

The framework was then applied to more than twenty real delivery packaging items, from single-use plastic bags to bagasse bowls to black PET sushi containers. The analysis surfaced a counterintuitive finding: color changes a plastic’s recyclability verdict. A clear PET or PE is 100% recyclable, but its dark or opaque version escapes detection at sorting centers and becomes non-recyclable, despite being the same polymer. Conversely, bio-based and compostable plastics, often perceived as the most virtuous option, were excluded from the definition of “sustainable” because industrial composting channels are not operational at scale in France.

Results

Nine sustainability criteria defined and documented, each tied to a specific law or a recognized technical methodology

More than 20 material and liner combinations assessed against the five legal recyclability criteria.

More than 20 real delivery packaging items tested against the framework, from plastic bags to bagasse bowls

Three verification methods recommended to merchants and Uber Eats to substantiate their claims: CITEO’s methodology, the TREE tool, and the QCE decree’s product information sheet

The framework was published by Uber as its own Sustainable Packaging Guidance for France, and now underpins how merchants and Uber Eats’ internal teams assess and evolve their packaging