Data and code info for: Reducing single-use cutlery with green nudges: Evidence from China’s food delivery industry

The rising consumer demand for online food delivery has significantly
increased the consumption of disposable cutlery, leading to much greater
plastic pollution worldwide. This study investigates the impact of green
nudges on single-use cutlery consumption in China. Collaborating with
Alibaba’s food delivery platform Eleme (similar to Uber Eats and
DoorDash), we analyzed detailed customer-level data and found that the
green nudges — changing the default to “No Cutlery” and rewarding
consumers with “green points” — increased the share of “No Cutlery” orders
by 648%. The aggregate environmental benefits are significant: if the
green nudges were applied to all of China, more than 21.75 billion sets of
single-use cutlery could be saved every year, equivalent to a 20.4% of
plastic waste reduction in the food delivery industry or a 6.12% reduction
in China’s total municipal plastic waste.