WhichMealKit| Service | The box, liners and ice packs |
|---|---|
| HelloFresh | The box and its paper or ClimaCell liners go in curbside recycling. Cut gel packs open, put the gel in the trash and take the film to a store drop-off. About HelloFresh FAQ |
| EveryPlate | Not on the pages we read |
| Green Chef | The box, liners and ClimaCell insulation go in curbside recycling in most of the US. Empty gel packs into the trash and take the film to a store drop-off. Green practices |
| Home Chef | The box and dividers go in curbside recycling. Cut ice packs open, put the gel in the trash and recycle the film with plastic bags; PET liners are recyclable. How do I dispose of the box packaging materials? |
| Blue Apron | The box goes in curbside recycling. Melt gel packs and drain them down the sink, take the film and #2 or #4 bags to a store drop-off, and put the metallic bubble insulation in the trash. Recycling FAQ |
| Sunbasket | The box and paper insulation go in curbside recycling; denim insulation and its liner are separated and recycled. Ice-pack gel goes in the trash or compost and the film to a drop-off. How do I recycle the packaging? |
| Marley Spoon | The box and paper-wrapped liners go in curbside paper recycling. Ice-pack gel goes in the trash and the film to a drop-off; foil liners go to a #4 plastic drop-off. Recycling |
| Dinnerly | The box and paper-wrapped liners go in curbside paper recycling. Ice-pack gel goes in the trash and the film to a drop-off; foil liners go to a #4 plastic drop-off. Recycling |
| Gobble | The box goes in cardboard recycling. Cut gel packs open, put the gel in the trash and recycle the outer plastic; the bubble-wrap liner is recyclable locally, and the denim liner can be recycled or sent free to Blue Jeans Go Green. How to recycle my Gobble box |
| Purple Carrot | The box is recyclable. Liners vary (ClimaCell in curbside recycling, #4 wrap, #7 bubble); put cooling-pack gel in the trash and recycle the #4 plastic, or refreeze the packs. Recycling |
| Factor | An insulated, recyclable box; the pages we read give no advice on liners or ice packs. How it works |
| CookUnity | Leave the insulated tote and intact ice packs for the driver to collect at the next delivery (its Returnable Packaging Program); the box and paper liners go in home recycling. Packaging 101: reuse, return, recycle |
| Splendid Spoon | Bowls, bottles, the box and ClimaCell insulation are recyclable, and dry ice evaporates; the thin film over the food should not go in curbside recycling. How do I recycle the packaging? and Sustainability |
| Daily Harvest | The box, paper liner and divider go in curbside recycling once the dry ice has gone; the dry-ice bag goes to a store drop-off; smoothie cups and seals go in the trash and lids are recycled. Recycling |
Gel ice packs
HelloFresh, Green Chef, Home Chef, Gobble, Marley Spoon, Dinnerly and Sunbasket all give much the same instruction: cut the pack open, put the gel in the trash (Sunbasket also allows compost) and recycle the plastic film, most of them at a store drop-off. Blue Apron is the exception: it says to let the gel melt and drain it down the sink. Purple Carrot suggests refreezing its cooling packs to use again.
Insulated liners
Paper liners, including the ClimaCell kind, go in curbside recycling at HelloFresh, Green Chef, Marley Spoon, Dinnerly, Sunbasket, Purple Carrot, CookUnity and Splendid Spoon. Denim liners can be recycled (Sunbasket and Gobble) or reused (Home Chef), and Gobble says its denim can be mailed free to Blue Jeans Go Green. Plastic liners vary: Marley Spoon’s and Dinnerly’s foil liners go to a #4 plastic drop-off, Purple Carrot uses #4 wrap or #7 bubble liners, and Blue Apron says its metallic bubble insulation goes in the trash.
Dry ice
Splendid Spoon and Daily Harvest pack frozen food with dry ice. Both warn against touching it and say to leave it to evaporate in a well-ventilated area. Splendid Spoon says to keep it away from children and pets; Daily Harvest, not to let them near it unsupervised. Once it has gone, Daily Harvest says the box, liner and divider can be recycled and the dry-ice bag goes to a store drop-off.
Packaging that goes back
CookUnity runs the only collection scheme we found among these services: leave the insulated tote and any intact returnable ice packs out, and the driver picks them up at your next delivery. Everywhere else, the packaging is yours to recycle. The film, #2 and #4 bags the services name go to a store drop-off bin rather than the curbside cart; your local recycling program says what it takes.