Emirates Airlines recycles 500,000 kg of plastic and glass discarded on board

Emirates Airlines collected used bottles onboard for recycling, resulting in the recycling of more than 500,000 kg of plastic and glass over the course of 2022. In 2019, as part of routine webinars and events where they are given a forum to express feedback and encouraged to discuss creative ideas with relevant departments, environmentally aware Emirates Cabin Crew proposed this project onboard. The idea was well appreciated, and it was put into action within a few weeks.500,000 kilograms is almost the same weight as a fully loaded Emirates flagship A380 aircraft.

Emirates Cabin Crew separates glass and plastic bottles on board every flight that lands in Dubai before delivering them to a recycling facility there. The glass is smashed and color separated. Glass makers in the UAE receive this “cullet,” or recycled glass that is ready to be remelted, to add to their batch mix for new bottles. The plastic bottles are thoroughly cleaned, then crushed into flakes and melted into pellets, which are then delivered to businesses that make other plastic goods. Because of this, each year Emirates and Emirates Flight Catering prevent thousands of kilograms of glass and plastic from ending up in landfills.

Emirates has several other initiatives which focus on repurposing plastic or using sustainable materials where possible;

Emirates blankets made from recycled plastic

Emirates has provided comfortable sustainable blankets made from recycled plastic bottles to Economy travellers on lengthy flights for the past six years. 28 recycled plastic bottles were used to create the cozy blankets. The bottles are shred into tiny plastic pieces and then spun into yarn to make fleece. The soft blankets are then woven using the tiny thread. Emirates blankets have stopped more than 95 million plastic bottles from ending up in landfills over the course of the initiative’s first six years. Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) is used in the fabrication of blankets, which is the largest sustainable blanket program in the airline sector and saves energy emissions by about 70%.

Emirates children’s toys made from sustainably sourced material

Also created from recycled plastic bottles and other sustainable materials are the complementary toy bags, infant amenity packages, and soft toys offered to Emirates’ youngest passengers. Certain age groups were taken into consideration when designing belt bags, duffel bags, and backpacks, all of which are made of 100% recycled plastic bottle yarn. Each Emirates kids’ backpack and duffel bag are manufactured from 5.5 recycled plastic bottles apiece. 8 million plastic bottles have been kept out of landfills thanks to the manufacture of Emirates’ kids’ bags. Even the outer shipping cases that the goods are transported in are constructed from recycled card that can be recycled once more, just like the swing tags.

Emirates reusable onboard amenity kits

Customers on long-haul flights can receive complimentary amenity kits from Emirates’ Premium Economy and Economy Class lines, which have designs that depict the four fundamental elements of nature: fire, water, earth, and air. The reusable pouches have custom artwork printed in non-toxic soy-based ink on washable kraft paper. Some dependable travel necessities produced from eco-friendly materials are included in the contents. The socks and sunglasses are made of recycled plastic, specifically rPET, while the toothbrush is composed of a mixture of plastic and wheat straw (recycled polyethylene terephthalate). 90% of the packaging for the eyeglasses, socks, and dentistry kit is made of rice paper.

Consuming responsibly is one of Emirates’ top environmental priorities. As part of this effort, Emirates has incorporated an environmental requirement into its supplier code of conduct and started thinking about products’ whole lifecycles throughout the design phase. For instance, paper straws, in-flight shopping bags, and wooden tea and coffee stirrers are all created with wood and paper from responsibly managed forests.