(TAN): Emirates has launched a new closed-loop recycling initiative 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 airline said.
Emirates will introduce the new recycled utensils onboard from June 2023 onwards.
The new initiative 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.
In partnership with deSter FZE UAE, a leading provider of serviceware concepts to the aviation industry, and expert in closed loop manufacturing, Emirates will be reusing plastic materials that have already reached their end of life and would otherwise need to be written off. The new trays, casseroles, snack dishes and bowls, potentially containing around 25% reused material (recyclate), will be brought back into service on aircraft across the globe, and the proportion will continue to increase over time.
