(Yicai Global) May 16 -- China's leading food ordering and delivery platform, Ele.me, operated by Shanghai Lazhasi Information Technology Co., has introduced a new kind of edible chopsticks to replace the ordinary disposable ones as it aims to promote environmentally-friendly takeout innovations, technology news site TechWeb reported today.

The so-called "e-dible chopsticks" are made from flour, butter, rock sugar, milk and water. It has three flavors: wheat, green tea and purple sweet potato. The chopsticks can be stored for 10 months. They can degrade within one week if they are discarded, according to Ele.me.

Ele.me has already reached agreements with two chain restaurants and launched 10,000 pairs of e-dible chopsticks. It remains to be seen whether this new "innovation" will be favored by businesses and consumers as the cost of edible chopsticks is much higher than that of ordinary disposable ones.

Edible chopsticks were widely introduced in Japan last year and got mixed reviews from consumers and media organizations.

Ordinary disposable wooden chopsticks have environmental ramifications as they are made of natural wood and bamboo. Some 5,000 pairs of disposable wooden chopsticks consume wood the size of a 30-year-old tree, publicly available data show.

Editor: Mevlut Katik