Single-Use Plastics and Sustainable Alternatives in Aviation

What’s the challenge?

It is estimated around 5.7 million tonnes of cabin waste, including single-use plastic, earphones and food waste, is generated on passenger flights globally every year.

The test flights concluded that every commercial passenger long haul flight taking to the air with no single-use plastic items on board prevent around 350kg of single-use, virtually indestructible plastic from poisoning our environment. That’s about the weight of a large touring motorcycle of plastic that is saved on every return journey.

That’s an unimaginable amount of needless waste that could be turned into compostables and recyclables rather than end up in landfill, which would also save on additional power and resources.

An obsession with single-use plastics much? Irrespective of pledges and trial single-use plastic-free and waste-free flights by Etihad Airways and Qantas in 2019, the airline industry is still one of the worst offenders and has been slow to catch up on a commercial scale.

What’s the solution?

Hi Fly and its principal sustainability partner, the Mirpuri Foundation, have long been pioneers for greener aviation and are serious about the future of the planet and their responsibility to future generations.

Previous Hi-Fly/Mirpuri Foundation-backed initiatives have included decorating Hi Fly aircraft, including its Airbus A380, the largest commercial passenger plane in the world, with environmental messages, including Hi-Fly/Mirpuri Foundation-backed campaigns to ‘Save the Coral Reefs’ and ‘Turn the Tide on Plastic’.

To make it happen, the airline used innovative eco-products to replace plastic with bamboo cutlery, cups, spoons, and salt and pepper shakers, while packaging for bedding, dishes, individual butter pots, soft drink bottles and toothbrushes have been switched with compostable alternatives crafted from recycled material.

With eight aircraft including an Airbus A380, Hi Fly is an aircraft leasing fleet and has now become the worlds first single-use plastic-free airline.

Hi Fly President Paulo Mirpuri said:
“We pledged at the time of our historic Hi Fly test flights, without any single-use plastic items on board that we would make Hi Fly the world’s first ‘plastic-free’ airline within 12 months. We knew that if we worked hard to overcome the problems that it was 100% possible. More importantly, in our hearts, we knew it was much more than that. We knew that this was a 100% necessary move for the future of our planet.”

What will the positive impact be?

While Hi Fly is a small airline that leases its fleet of eight aircraft to other airlines on a short term basis, this is still a significant step in the war against plastic and will undoubtedly put other airlines on notice.

Hi Fly President Paulo Mirpuri says that “over 100,000 flights take off each day around the world and, last year, commercial aircraft carried nearly four billion passengers. This number is expected to double again in less than 20 years. So, the potential to make a difference here is clear,”

“Our corporate mission is based around sustainability and we work hand in hand with the Mirpuri Foundation to make sure that our corporate practices match our wider responsibilities to the planet.”

The Hi Fly/ Mirpuri Foundation partnership also supports a raft of other environmental, conservation, scientific, artistic and exploration programs as well as sponsoring a wide range of educational events.

(Source: Words by Matt Leedham ; traveltochangetheworld.com)