Quantify the food delivery package waste generation of Dongguan in grid level using empowerment calculation method

Food delivery service is under prosperous development in China, and the huge FDPWG (food delivery package waste generation) has brought unignorable environmental burdens. Thus, it's important to clarify the distribution and composition of FDPW (food delivery package waste). Choosing Dongguan as the study objective, this study developed an empowerment calculation method based on the POI (Point of interest) data, DHM (demographic heat map) data and FDPW data, to clarify the spatial patterns of FDPWG from food delivery merchants to consumers. The FDPWG results were aggregated into 1 km x 1 km grid, town, and functional area levels. Total FDPWG of Dongguan was 4796.68 t per month, composed of 67.61% plastic, 30.88% paper & wood, and 1.51% aluminum. Among plastic materials, HDPE (high density polyethylene), LDPE ((high-density polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), PS (polystyrene), PET (polyethylene glycol terephthalate), and the others took the share of 4.56%, 7.44%, 75.86%, 6.74%, 0.30%, and 5.12%, respectively. It illustrated that FDPWG had a positive correlation with population and GDP (Gross domestic production), and the influences of population and GDP were almost the same. With the level of local urbanization decreased, the plastic proportion had a decreasing trend, and the paper & wood proportion and aluminum proportion had an upward trend oppositely. Policy implications for FDPW management were raised based on the calculation results of FDPWG.