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WASHINGTON, DC — Although the U.S. airline industry generates millions of tons of waste each year, the vast majority of it goes without being recycled, a new report found.
That's due in part to the fact that no major airlines in the U.S. airlines recycle all the major recyclables or have programs that minimize food and onboard waste, according to Green America. Over-packaged snacks only exasperate the problem.
"What Goes Up Must Go Down: The Sorry State of Recycling in the Airline Industry," from Green America's consumer watchdog arm, ResponsibleShopper.org, ranks the top U.S. airlines on their recycling programs, finding a lot of room for improvement.
While Delta and Virgin America topped the list, each received a score of only B-, followed by Virgin Atlantic and Southwest, which each scored Cs. Continental, JetBlue, American Airlines and British Airways each received Ds. United and US Airways flunked with Fs.
"While airlines may face some challenges in creating effective recycling programs, evidence shows that working systems can be implemented," Green America Corporate Responsibility Director Todd Larsen said in a statement. "Our report demonstrates that several airlines are significantly ahead of their competitors in taking these steps, and it is clear that comprehensive recycling programs can be implemented effectively and economically."
The totality of the findings is sobering: More than 881 million tons of waste was generated by airline passenger trips in the U.S. in 2008. Unfortunately, just 20 percent was recycled, although 75 percent was recyclable.
But there are signs that airlines are beginning to recognize the benefits of recycling, such as British Airlines' decision to send zero waste to landfills in the U.K. by 2010. Meanwhile, Southwest's on-ground recycling program covers batteries, electronics and oil, although its in-flight recycling is limited.
CC licensed by Flickr user Micah Sittig.
A business opportunity?
Given so many innovative businesses have formed around seemingly impossible to overcome hurdles, this might be a huge opportunity. Doesn't some business want to make it REALLY easy for airlines to do this and then get the great PR/buzz? Flight attendants/other airline employees and passengers are just a few of the stakeholders who'd thank you in who knows how many ways...
Even if a $1/charge was added to my ticket price - I'd be one who'd be happy to pay.
First-Class article
Do the staff of GreenBiz normally fly First Class? If so, I'd like to join the staff. The image seems to show a meal that is unmistakeably that, and the real problem with it is, arguably (I have comparable-situation data), less that the trivial mass of presumed-recyclables is not recycled, than that the tremendous relative mass of the china and flatware used must be airlifted in the first place, not to mention the water, thermal energy, and wastewater treatment load of cleaning it.
That said, there's no arguing against the idea that cans, bottles, and newsprint should be recycled and reclaimed --- and that airline wine should only be in lightweight, unbreakable plastic bottles, never in massive, weapons-grade glass.
airlines
As a flight attendant with a major airline, I can tell you that it is a crime against the planet what the airlines are doing. In addition to that, I fight a one-person battle with other flight attendants who hoard inserts of sodas, wasting fuel.