Zomato, a food delivery service, claimed on Friday that it offset nearly 500,000 metric tonnes of waste last year and now offers 100 percent plastic-free deliveries.

“Last year, we made our first move toward long-term sustainability by introducing ‘Climate Conscious Delivery,’ in which we began sponsoring local environmental programmes to offset the carbon footprint of all our deliveries and packaging in India,” Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal wrote in a blog.

“On our app, we also made ‘no cutlery required’ the default option. As a result, 74% of orders are served without silverware, saving thousands of pounds of single-use plastic from entering landfills. We joined the EV100 programme and pledged to transition to an all-electric fleet by 2030. Every time we took a step forward, you applauded our efforts and played an equal role in making Zomato more sustainable,” he added.

Every meal bought through Zomato will now be 100 percent plastic neutral, meaning the firm will voluntarily recycle more than 100 percent of all plastic used in the packaging of an order.

To accomplish this, it has begun collaborating with ISO-certified plastic waste management organisations that will collect and sustainably handle plastic garbage in collaboration with municipalities across India.

Zomato also wants to deliver 100 million more eco-friendly food delivery orders (orders in sustainable packaging) over the next three years by assisting its restaurant partners in switching to more cost-effective and environmentally friendly packaging options.

“This endeavour will cost us a large amount of money and, of course, will have a detrimental impact on our P&L.” “However, I am convinced that what is good for the earth is also good for business,” Goyal remarked.