Emirates Launches Closed Loop Recycling Initiative

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(14/06/23)
 Emirates launched a new closed loop recycling
initiative this month, where millions of onboard items such as
plastic trays, bowls, snack and casserole dishes, will now be
recycled in a local facility and remade into fresh, ready-to-use
Emirates meal service products.

The new
initiative, in
partnership with deSter FZE UAE, is a transition to the principles of a circular
economy, whereby items are reduced, reused and recycled.

Millions
of old and damaged meal service items from Economy and Premium
Economy Class dining will be collected after flights, washed and
checked for damage, transported to a facility in Dubai to be
ground down, reprocessed and manufactured into new dishes, bowls
and trays – before being sent to Emirates Flight Catering to be
used again for thousands of meals in the sky.

Emirates closed loop recycling

Emirates is committed to reducing plastic waste and has already
implemented several other initiatives in addition to the new
closed loop recycling project, including:

– Emirates has diverted over 150
million single-use plastic items from landfill each year by
replacing plastic straws, inflight retail bags and stirrers with
responsibly sourced paper and wooden alternatives.

– Economy
and Premium Economy Class passengers can get comfortable with soft
blankets onboard, where each blanket is manufactured from 28 recycled plastic bottles. Over the course of one year, this
initiative saves 88 million plastic bottles from landfill.

–
Emirates’ current range of inflight toy bags, baby amenity kits
and plush toys are made from recycled plastic bottles, and over 8
million plastic bottles were repurposed during 12 months of
amenity kit production.

– The hygiene covers for bowls on
Emirates meal trays and plastic tumblers are made from 80%
recycled plastic (rPET).

– Emirates Economy and Premium Economy
amenity kits are made from alternative materials such as kraft
paper, rice paper and recycled plastic, reducing the consumption
of virgin plastic.

– Emirates Cabin Crew segregate glass and
plastic bottles for recycling in Dubai, diverting about 500,000
kilograms of plastic and glass from landfill in 2022.

The team at deSter are members of the CE100 network, which
includes some of the world’s leading circular economy companies.
They have also been awarded the ‘Gold’ Sustainability rating from Ecovadis – a globally recognised certification for sustainable
practices.

See also:

Hotel Waste, Single-Use Plastic and Climate Change – HD Video
Interview with WWF.

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