In order to achieve Sustainability
goals, the aviation community needs to work on reducing the various types of waste it produces. aviospace.org reported that around 80-85% percent of an aircraft can be recycled. One of the ways that some airlines are looking to become more sustainable and focus on recycling the onboard products is by the use of reusable cups. Let’s look at the airlines that use reusable cups onboard.
Photo: Delta Air Lines
4
Lufthansa Airlines
The carrier aims to eliminate all single-use plastic products onboard by 2025
In 2022, 
Lufthansa
introduced sustainable green fares, which are aimed at the reduction of the carbon footprint of travelers. Lufthansa’s group fares come with a full CO2 compensation embedded into the fare, with 80% of the green fare going to offsets and 20% on the purchase of Sustainable Aviation Fuel
(SAF). In addition, the introduction of reusable cups makes the carrier a pioneer in European aviation when it comes to aviation sustainability
.
Photo: Lufthansa
Related
Lufthansa Launches A Sustainable “Green Fare”
The group will trial run its fare with baked-in CO2 offsets and SAF contribution on flights from Scandinavia.
Let’s take a look at the carrier’s sustainability goals:
|
2030 |
Cut net CO2 emissions in half by 2030 (compared to 2019 figures) |
|---|---|
|
2050 |
Achieve a neutral CO2 balance |
Previously, the disposable cups used on Lufthansa had plastic lids. With an expansion of the hot beverage they serve, the carrier has also supplanted these cups with reusable ones, with the carrier noting:
“On the way to your appointments within Europe, you can now purchase new coffee specialties such as latte macchiato, various tea variants and hot chocolate in the new reusable cups. The airlines of the Lufthansa Group have jointly set the goal of completely eliminating all single-use plastic products and single-use aluminum on board by 2025.”
3
easyJet
14,000 crew were issued reusable cups in January this year
Since the turn of the millennium, easyJet
has reduced its carbon emissions per passenger, per kilometre by one-third. Compared to its numbers in 2019, the carrier aims to reduce its carbon emissions per passenger, per kilometer, by 78% by 2050. The carrier revealed this commitment in 2022. Only a couple of years later, easyJet introduced reusable cups.
Photo: easyJet
On its way forward to aviation sustainability, the carrier equipped 14,000 of its crew with reusable cups and cutlery. The carrier reported that its initiative “is expected to prevent more than 10 million single use items from being used per year – equivalent to 71 tonnes per year“. Breaking down the number (71 tonnes of annual savings), the carrier noted that this figure included:
- The removal of cutlery packs (previously accounting for 16 tonnes of waste per year)
- The removal of disposable cups and lids (previously accounting for 55 tonnes of waste per year).
On the occasion of the introduction of reusable cups, Angela Mullen, Head of Inflight Retail Operations at easyJet, commented that the introduction of the reusable cups was one of the many steps the carrier was taking to achoeve aviation sustainability:
“As always, our brilliant crew took this trial under their wings and through their passion and dedication to reduce unnecessary waste, we are now able to roll out this fantastic initiative network-wide. This is just one of the many ways we’re working to lower the impact of our operations and we’ll continue to trial new initiatives and make continuous improvements to help accomplish this goal.”
2
Delta Air Lines
Eliminating nearly 7 million pounds of single-use plastic onboard
Since 2022, 
Delta Air Lines
has removed 4.9 million pounds of single-use plastics annually. The introduction of reusable cups would help the carrier come close to its own sustainability goals:
” …paper cups will help eliminate nearly 7 million pounds* – the weight of 1,300 pickup trucks – of single-use plastics on board annually and bring Delta one step closer to minimizing single-use plastics on board by 2025.”
The carrier also noted that the compostable cups could be recycled where airport recycling facilities are in place. This would help divert waste from landfills. The following initiatives used by Delta Air Lines helped save 10 million gallons in fuel in 2022:
- Enhanced winglet installations for drag reduction
- Flight routing/speed optimizations
- Weight reduction initiatives
Photo: Delta Air Lines
The carrier also noted that these initiatives would amount to “a cumulative savings of more than 1B gallons expected between 2019 and 2035.” Trellis reported that we could expect the carrier to introduce the cups on domestic US flights next year:
“Delta Air Lines, after two years of prototyping and testing, will replace single-use plastic cups with recyclable paper ones on transcontinental flights by the end of the year. From there, the airline will transition domestic U.S. journeys in 2025.”
1
Alaska Airlines
The first carrier to implement a plastic-free beverage service for passengers
Alaska Airlines recently tested reusable cups onboard. This initiative towards sustainability came after the airline collaborated with r.World, which is the number one reuse platform in the US and an enterprise that develops reusable serviceware. The reusable cups was introduced by Alaska on its service between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
(SEA) and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
(MSP).
Photo: Alaska Airlines
You can read about the partnership in our guide below:
Related
Sustainability To The Test: Alaska Airlines Tries Out Reusable Cups Inflight
It comes as the carrier has already introduced a handful of initiatives to reduce onboard weight.
The reusable cups can be collected, cleaned, and sanitized after a flight, and used for the next one. Michael Martin, r.World’s Founder and CEO, was buoyed by the introduction of the cups.
“We’re excited to team up with Alaska Airlines to take reuse to new heights on National Reuse Day. Together we’re showing that reuse is an easy way to eliminate single-use waste on flights. Alaska Airlines is leading efforts to bring sustainable innovations to their fleet and overall travel industry.”
Photo: Alaska Airlines
Some of the other initiatives by Alaska Airlines to reduce their carbon footprint and show their commitment to sustainability include the following:
- The carrier introduced the option of pre-ordering their inflight meals, helping reduce food waste by more than 60% in 2023 (compared to the figures from 2019).
- Since 2021, the carrier has been serving water using Boxed Water, which has been reported to provide water in 92% plant-based cartons.
- Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)-certified paper cups are used in the main cabins of Alaska Airlines.