Alibaba-Backed Food Delivery Platform Ele.me Launches Carbon Accounting Function

Major Chinese food delivery platform Ele.me announced on Thursday the launch of the first consumer carbon account in the industry, which it calls “E.Carbon” (e点碳 E diǎntàn). It has established a points system based on users’ carbon consumption behavior, and guides them to choose a greener lifestyle by redeeming various incentives.

When users place orders on Ele.me, they can now choose low-carbon and environmental protection options, such as no need for tableware or choosing small dishes. Users can obtain corresponding points, which can bring certain benefits. In addition, they can use the points to participate in carbon-neutral public welfare projects, such as donating them to protect forests.

Ele.me is a local life services platform, founded in 2008 and acquired by Alibaba for $9.5 billion on April 2, 2018. Alibaba‘s Carbon Neutralization Expert Committee has reviewed and strictly supervised the carbon reduction calculations of the “No Tableware” option within the platform.

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Yang Lingye, head of ESG Strategy and Operation Department of Alibaba, introduced that “E.Carbon” is an open technology platform focusing on the carbon peak neutrality field. It includes industry-leading carbon measurement service capabilities, account systems and incentive systems. In the future, this platform will be open to the public, helping more enterprises to build more diversified carbon reduction scenarios in within daily life.

Fang Yongxin, President of Ele.me, mentioned at a recent seminar that the launch of the consumer carbon accounting project can further stimulate the food delivery platform to continuously propose new carbon reduction schemes through technological innovation, and can jointly promote green and low-carbon transformation with ecological partners.

According to the Ele.me, as of the end of February this year, the platform has sent out 1.06 billion orders without tableware, which is equivalent to reducing carbon emissions by 16,900 tons.