Environmental impact of express food delivery in China: the role of personal consumption choice

The online food ordering business in China is developing rapidly in recent years with considerable environmental impacts. However, the impacts caused by the express food delivery and the differences between the regions with different economic levels have seldom been quantified. Changing personal consumption behavior might help to reduce such impacts. But to what extent personal consumption changing could alter the environmental impacts caused by express food delivery remained uncertain. Thus, we have conducted a quantitative study based on the data collected from a 45-persons survey to determine the environmental impacts caused by the express food delivery in the different regions of China. Additionally, the reducible environmental impacts were estimated by establishing a scenario of personal consumption behavior changing. The results showed that each express food delivery order would generate 111.80 g CO(2) emission equivalent on average. Most (86%) of the CO(2) equivalent of the express food delivery came from the food packages. Compared to the orders in the second-class and third-class cities, the orders in the first-class cities had a significantly higher CO(2) equivalent due to the greater use of food packages. The results also demonstrated that by walking to take the food in the restaurants nearby (< 1 km), 68% of the CO(2) equivalent derived from the express food delivery could be reduced. People’s willingness to change consumption behavior plays an important role to achieve the environmental impact reduction.