DoorDash plan in Half Moon Bay could change food delivery forever |
Inside Fattoria e Mare’s kitchen, chef-owner Pablo Estrada added last-minute touches to pasta pomodoro before pouring the bright red noodles into a plastic container. This looks like a standard scene in the modern delivery food era, but unlike normal takeout, these containers could soon come back to Estrada’s kitchen rather than ending up in a landfill.
Fattoria e Mare is among 12 Half Moon Bay restaurants participating in a new reusable food container pilot program from DoorDash called DashLoop. The program is operating from February through the end of April and offers participants free reusable containers, which can be used up to 100 times. Customers automatically get their orders delivered in the reusable containers that resemble Tupperware, which they can later drop off in bins at each participating restaurant.
Throughout the week, DoorDash collects containers for cleaning and sanitizing before returning them to DashLoop restaurants.
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A DashLoop by DoorDash bin is seen inside Fattoria e Mare in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on March 13, 2026.
Reusable containers are filled with lunch orders as part of DoorDash’s DashLoop program at Ketch Harbor Pub in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Monday, March 16, 2026.
Stacks of empty DashLoop by DoorDash reusable containers are seen at Fattoria e Mare in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on March 13, 2026.
Estrada said he was eager to join the pilot program when DoorDash reached out because the program aligns with his commitment to sustainability. He also thinks the containers work great with the Italian cuisine prepared at Fattoria e Mare.
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“These containers feel secure even when I do pasta,” Estrada said. “The other day, I made pasta for myself to go, and after 45 minutes, it was still in good shape. Pasta tends to stick when you put it in a to-go container, but these hold very well. I was really impressed.”
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On a recent Friday, rows of DashLoop containers were piled on a shelf inside Fattoria e Mare’s kitchen. An employee nearby was busily packing several takeout orders, including gnocchi, garlic bread and arancini, which he placed inside bags alongside a DoorDash note encouraging customers to return their empty containers with the tagline: “Order. Return. Repeat.”
Luis Nobelo prepares food to be put into reusable containers as part of the DashLoop program for DoorDash orders at Ketch Harbor Pub in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Monday, March 16, 2026.
Linguini pescatore in a DashLoop by DoorDash reusable container is seen at Ketch Harbor Pub in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on March 13, 2026.
DoorDash’s reusable container program is an attempt to solve one of the biggest global challenges facing the massive growth of food delivery. Packaging accounts for a majority of the greenhouse gas emissions connected to ordering food, according to a 2020 study, and the amount of plastic waste is rapidly growing across the world. Although there’s no estimate for how much waste food delivery creates in California, a 2025 study by CalRecycle found that 8.45 million tons of single-use packaging and plastic single-use foodware went into California landfills the previous year. In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring single-use containers and plastic food service ware to be 100% recyclable or compostable by 2032.
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DoorDash’s program is using containers from San Francisco’s Dispatch Goods. CEO Lindsey Hoell said that the recent law signed by Newsom could help shift 10% of single-use plastics into reusable models, which would be about 17 billion items annually in California alone. Hoell said the DoorDash program is a step in the right direction.
“We believe this pilot could help us gather the feedback necessary for DoorDash to play a critical role in that solution,” Hoell told SFGATE. “DoorDash is dedicated to finding a solution, and California is the perfect place to start.”
Marco Molina prepares takeout orders in DashLoop by DoorDash reusable containers at Fattoria e Mare in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on March 13, 2026.
Executive chef and co-owner Pablo Estrada is seen putting meatballs into reusable containers as part of the DashLoop program for DoorDash orders at Fattoria e Mare in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on March 13, 2026.
One Bay Area government launched a similar effort to reduce plastic waste. Petaluma launched a reusable cup program in 2024 where cafes were given reusable cups for customers to use and return. The program, which was funded partially by Peet’s and Starbucks, saw over 50% of the reusable cups, or about a quarter million, returned so they could be reused in the program’s first three months, exceeding the break-even amount to keep the program environmentally beneficial, according to a 2025 report.
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Sueli Shaw, DoorDash’s head of social impact and sustainability, told SFGATE that Half Moon Bay was the “ideal” setting for the pilot program due to the coastal town’s smaller size compared with other Bay Area cities. She added that San Mateo County’s “history of waste reduction” was also a motivating factor.
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“We are testing something really new and different,” Shaw said.
A DashLoop by DoorDash bin is seen outside Ketch Harbor Pub for reusable containers, in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on March 13, 2026.
A DashLoop by DoorDash bin is seen outside Ketch Harbor Pub for reusable containers, in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on March 13, 2026.
To-go orders in reusable containers as part of DoorDash’s DashLoop program are seen at Fattoria e Mare in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on March 13, 2026.
It’s not clear if DoorDash will roll out the program to other cities. The company declined to comment on return rates for the Half Moon Bay program or if it plans to expand the use of containers. But restaurants across the small coastal community appear to be buying into the opportunity. Just a quick drive from Fattoria e Mare, a red DashLoop bin, located outside Ketch Harbor Pub, was filled with several empty DashLoop containers. Co-owner Mishelle Westendorf said that she’s seen about 15 to 20 containers returned to her business each week, although she said she has also had to deal with people throwing trash into the bins. Westendorf said she wanted to join the program because the local Half Moon Bay community is eager to reduce its environmental impacts.
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“We want to make it as easy as possible,” Westendorf told SFGATE prior to her restaurant facing an eviction notice last month. “We put it out on the corner so that people can just drive up and just drop it in. Our community is very conscious of plastic and reusable stuff. I rejoice that people want to do it.”
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