Report Uncovers Scary Details of Airline Recycling
According to Green America's report, airlines generate more than 880 million pounds of waste annually. While 75 percent is recyclable, only 20 percent of that waste is actually recycled. Photo: Flickr/caribb
Ever wonder what happens to the soda cans, napkins and plastic cups that disappear down the aisle with the flight attendant? According to a new study, much of that waste probably won’t land in a recycling bin.
Airlines generate more than 880 million pounds of waste each year. While 75 percent is recyclable, only 20 percent is actually recycled, according to consumer watchdog Green America in its Responsible Shopper report on the state of airline recycling.
“It’s really something the public needs to be aware of,” says Victoria Kreha, the lead author of the report and responsible shopper coordinator for Green America. “The fact that there are airlines out there that aren’t even recycling aluminum cans is pretty insidious.”
In 2004, airlines threw away enough aluminum cans to build 58 Boeing 747 jets, 9,000 tons of plastic and enough newspaper and magazines to cover a football field 230 meters deep, according to the National Resource Defense Council. About 500 million more tons of material could be recycled each year by airline industries – half of which is generated in-flight, the study reports.
If airlines continue their recycling habits as usual, those figures won’t change. Green America graded 11 airlines after reviewing a variety of sources. The highest grade, a B-, went to Delta Airlines and Virgin America, while both United Airlines and US Airways were given an F.
“We were just surprised at how little the airline industries as a whole is actually doing,” Kreha says. “None of the companies actually was recycling everything it should be recycling.”
But Green America is doing more than just pointing a finger at the airline industries. The nonprofit company acknowledges some of the sustainable initiatives airlines are pursuing as well.
Delta recycles much of the waste generated during the flight at major airports. Flight attendants from American Airlines created an aluminum can recycling program which proceeds go to charitable organizations. Virgin America has eliminated in-flight magazines to decrease waste, and British Airlines has set a goal of sending zero waste to landfills in the U.K. by 2010.
Green America encourages frequent fliers to sign a letter addressed to airline CEOs, making it clear that recycling is an important issue. Passengers can also fill out a form on Green America’s Web site, detailing whether or not in-flight waste was recycled on their last trip.
“A passenger can ask a flight attendant, ‘Are you going to be recycling that aluminum can?’ Or, ‘What’s going to happen to my beverage container or my newspaper?’ They can then fill out this form and submit it to us,” explains Kreha.
Responsible shopper will collect data from thousands of airline passengers for a follow-up report to be released at the end of the year. Kreha says it’s a way to persuade the industry to clean up its act and embrace eco-friendly initiatives.
“This way we can target companies and say, ‘Look, you guys need to do a lot better; you really need to amp up your recycling programs. We found that you’re really not where you need to be, and we have the numbers to back it up.’”
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- (12/12/2006). "Trash Landings: Airlines Toss Enough Cans Each Year to Build Fleet of Airliners" National Resources Defense Council http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressReleases/061212.asp.
- Responsible Shopper(02/18/2010). "What Goes Up Must Come Down, The Sorry State of Recycling in the Airline Industry" Green America http://www.greenamericatoday.org/programs/responsibleshopper/industry/AirlineRecyclingReport.cfm?dest=email.
- Victoria Kreha. Responsible Shopping Coordinator (02/19/2010). Green America Interview.
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The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.
R
posted on February 24th, 2010 at 8:02 am
Get a clue… it is not the airline.. it is the catering company. Everything goes into the carts and waste bins on board the aircraft. Being a flight attendant for American, I know. We have had to fight our catering company to recycle cans for our charity. So for once, I ask, DO YOUR RESEARCH before bashing the airlines!! Trust me, I’m not pro management I’m a union worker… But don’t tell passengers to start confrontations about their can or newspaper. Our job is to save peoples asses should their be an emergency, not kiss it!
Angela Brewer
posted on February 24th, 2010 at 9:03 am
While I am glad this is brought to the public eye and hopefully the airlines, PLEASE do not trouble the flight attendant on board your flight with this issue. As a flight attendant, we have committees set up for feedback to the company but we are the employees, our voices are not heard as loud as the ones with the money! Tell the airlines HR dept- write a letter or email. Leave the cabin staff out of it please.
ann
posted on February 24th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Is there any current information in this report?
ann
posted on February 24th, 2010 at 9:35 am
The most recent into in this report is from 2004… from NRDC. Is anybdody doing current research?
THOMAS
posted on February 24th, 2010 at 9:38 am
All good points…. however… one thing you are just not seeing, or addressing…. the airline industry has lost money overall over the past 50 years…. and we all know too well that it is not a long term hold… recycling costs money…. that is the bottom line. It also takes time for workers to sort the garbage, etc… and there are a number of more important things that flight attendants have to do than make recycling their focal point! In addition, the airlines do not provide the flight attendants a recycling specific area to put their bags of recycled cans or plastic….space is very precious in a galley! Storage for garbage is very limited on planes…. think about all of the STUFF that people bring on board…. they hand all their carry on garbage to the flight atts constantly…….it would be nice if the airlines would have dedicated garbage carts for recycling…. but not going to happen with the space constraints in the galleys…and unless the airlines START MAKING MONEY…. dont hold your breath! However, if aluminum cans are placed back in beverage carts, empty… then the caterers SHOULD all get on board to recycle from the kitchens. This is really and truly the target this movement should be going after! Trust me…. i have been a flight attendant for 33 years!
Triskelion
posted on February 24th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
The attendant gives you a can of soda. You finish the soda and they collect it and put the empty can into a recycling bin or in the same spaces where they removed other cans. Thats the space they need. The airline lands in their respective airport where this trash(or in this case the recycled trash) gets collected by taking it off the plane. Instead of being taken to the dumpster it can be dumped off at a recycling plant where there are PAID workers who get PAID to separate items and send them to the appropriate place where people are PAID to turn these items into reusable products.
Who pays all this? Isnt the consumer already being nickled and dimed at the airport for every little thing? Or can some of the money offsets the cost of getting the natural resources out of the ground which COSTS money to begin with? I think its just a chagne of strategy.
I want to thank the flight attendants on here for bringing it up that the data for this is from 2004, that the issue is not with the flight attendants or the rest of the staff but with the caterers/suppliers.
True the author of this article needs to do a lot more research instead of posting outdated material. Why post old data statistics in the first place?
Melissa R.
posted on February 25th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Alaska Airlines, based out of Seattle, should be praised for its committment to the environment. They have been recycling for decades. The flight attendants have a seperate bag for recyclables (cans, newspapers, magazines) and another for trash.
Joanne Day
posted on February 26th, 2010 at 8:09 am
Recycling can also be a source of money. Working (second job) at Target we have recycled cardboard for years generating money and saving trees. At my full time job with the State of Texas a co-worker and I started a recycling program from the ground up. Minimal separation and it is carted off site. If you make it easy for empolyees to separate they will. As for space in the galley, how about asking passengers to remember that they can recycle their newspapers and metal cans in the terminal. I’ve seen paper and aluminum bins in all the major airports. Not sure about plastic bottles. If we all work together maybe we could solve this problem.
sal
posted on March 3rd, 2010 at 12:13 pm
I fly a few times during the year. I would never think of bugging a Flight Attendant about ‘is this can going to be recycled?’ I want her/his attention on the cabin and the passengers……not attending to trash. I agree that this sounds more like an issue with a catering service or the maintenance people. It would be great if all that waste could be recycled and I’m sure there is a way that the administrations of all airlines could figure a way to do that. You missed the mark on this one Marisa…..you didn’t do your homework.
Pippi’s ClipBoard « Streams of consciousness
posted on March 6th, 2010 at 11:18 am
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