In a world first, a Southend take-away is trialling sauce sachets made from seaweed to help fight plastic waste.

The Fat Pizza has teamed up with Just Eat to carry out the trial of the biodegradable sachets.

In March, Just Eat announced a package of measures to reduce excess plastics included in UK takeaway deliveries.

One of the commitments the business made was to work with key industry experts to invest in the research and development of innovative and practical alternatives for single use plastics.

Altogether, over 11 billion plastic condiment sachets are sold globally every year and as part of its initiative to find alternatives to single use plastic packaging, Just Eat has teamed up with sustainable packaging startup, Skipping Rocks Lab, to trial the use of seaweed based sauce sachets. The trial is being conducted with The Fat Pizza, in Grainger Road, for six weeks.

The sachets, which are filled with either ketchup or garlic sauce, are being sent out to customers who order specific items such as pizza, curly fries, chicken strips and nuggets.

The sachets are made from alginate and are naturally biodegradable, which means they decompose without additional processing in a matter of weeks in your home compost or in the bin, much like a piece of fruit.

Sunny Chhina, owner of The Fat Pizza, said: “As an independent business owner, I want to make sure I’m doing my part to help fight plastic pollution in the takeaway industry. I think the commitment Just Eat has made to reduce the impact of plastic waste is fantastic and I am thrilled to be part of this exciting initiative by trialling the use of Ooho! Seaweed based sauce sachets in my restaurant.

“The sachets are an environmentally-friendly and credible alternative to the traditional plastic condiment sachets and I look forward to continuing to support Just Eat in their drive against plastic waste.”

Graham Corfield, UK managing director of Just Eat, said: “At Just Eat, we’re committed to helping reduce the impact of the takeaway industry on plastic waste levels and we’ve already taken measures to drive more environmentally-friendly behaviour among our restaurant partners and customers. We’re delighted to now be taking our commitment a step further through our partnership with Skipping Rocks Lab.

“The Ooho Sauce Sachets trial and the results from it, will form an important part of our ongoing work to develop innovative and credible alternatives to traditional single-use plastic packaging currently in use across the takeaway sector.”

Pierre Paslier, co-founder, Skipping Rocks Lab, said: “As an innovative sustainable packaging startup, we are passionate about pioneering the use of natural materials extracted from plants and seaweed to create packaging with low environmental impact.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Just Eat to trial the use of our novel sauce sachets. These are 100% plant based, naturally biodegradable and they decompose within six weeks, making them a natural and sustainable alternative to single-use plastic packaging.”