{"id":184891,"date":"2023-05-08T15:14:19","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T07:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grab.com\/sg\/?post_type=editorial&p=184891"},"modified":"2025-02-27T01:45:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T17:45:51","slug":"esg-sustainability-impact-report-2022-waste-target","status":"publish","type":"editorial","link":"https:\/\/www.grab.com\/sg\/inside-grab\/stories\/esg-sustainability-impact-report-2022-waste-target\/","title":{"rendered":"Our new waste target will support cleaner oceans and land in Southeast Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Southeast Asia has a trash problem. We see piles of waste improperly dumped and collecting in open areas, and trash floating in the oceans after getting swept through waterways.<\/p>

This is because waste management infrastructure hasn\u2019t kept up with the growing volume that we generate in the region. According to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)\u00a0estimates<\/a>, almost 70 per cent of waste remains uncollected or illegally disposed of.<\/p>

Part of it is due to the landscape\u2019s challenges. Nearly\u00a010,000 islands<\/a>\u00a0have people living on them\u2014many of these places remote and with underdeveloped options for proper waste collection and treatment. People end up burning their trash in the open, releasing harmful gases, or dumping them improperly and polluting the open areas around them.<\/p>

We recognise that food packaging waste is an inherent by-product of our food delivery platform.<\/p>

Change has to happen throughout the value chain, and we are committed to proactively seeking and developing sustainable answers. This means both being introspective, while working with other parties in the ecosystem such as regulators, packaging manufacturers, waste management firms, merchant-partners, and consumers.<\/p>

This is why we\u2019re adding a new target for the company, to achieve zero packaging waste in nature by 2040.<\/b><\/p>

Plastics are\u00a0everywhere\u00a0<\/i>because they\u2019re durable, malleable and cheap to produce. For food packaging, you get a lot of polypropelene (PP) plastics, which are heat and food-safe. But plastics are also non-biodegradable.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>

Grab’s total plastic footprint<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Of food packaging waste facilitated through the Grab platform, plastics represent 42 per cent of food packaging waste across our key markets. Of these, so much can be trimmed\u2014containers, plastic carriers, lids and sauce packets make up more than 70 per cent of the plastic count.<\/p>

To tackle this, we aim to reduce waste, and raise the use of compostable versions. We are committed to diverting 30 per cent of plastic packaging by 2030.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\tSo much can be trimmed\u2014containers, plastic carriers, lids and sauce packets make up more than 70 per cent of plastic waste.<\/b>\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Work has already begun in this direction. In 2019, we allowed users to toggle on an option on each delivery to reject single-use cutlery\u2014and they responded.<\/p>

Since 2019, we\u2019ve diverted more than 23,800 tonnes of waste from this single action. In 2022 alone, Grab users said no to 898 million sets of utensils, allowing us to avoid an extra 8,100 tonnes of plastic waste.<\/p>

Further, to get to our 2040 goal, we need to develop mechanisms to contribute towards a circular economy by performing proper waste collection and supporting the use of reusable packaging.<\/p>

We know we can\u2019t do it alone. Together, we\u2019ll work to change the way people here consume and think about the impact they\u2019re making to this planet.<\/p>

[Read more about our new goal on our full ESG 2022 report<\/a>]<\/p>

Tackling our biggest greenhouse gas emissions source<\/h5>

Our new waste goal adds to our existing environmental target to reach carbon neutrality by 2040.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Transitioning towards electrification and other modes of low emission transportation is important; over 90 per cent of Grab\u2019s total emissions are\u00a0Scope 3<\/a>\u00a0greenhouse gas emissions\u2014that is, through partner vehicles performing rides and deliveries on Grab\u2019s platform.\u00a0<\/p>

Pushing for sustainable transport on Grab is even more challenging as a vast majority of these vehicles are privately-owned by the driver-partners themselves.<\/p>

In 2022, we managed to reduce 48,000 tonnes of emissions from:<\/p>