Paulo Mirpuri, the chief executive of Portuguese charter Hi Fly said airlines should get ahead of regulators by voluntarily eliminating single-use plastic within five years.
Airlines, facing public pressure, are removing single-use plastic straws, stir sticks, utensils and wrappers from their cabins, with some carriers holding zero waste and plastic-free flights.
This week, Hi Fly, which specializes in leasing and charter services to airlines, took the unusual step of holding a private sector-led meeting in Portugal, that brought together representatives from major airlines, as well as airline catering companies and the European Commission, to find ways to reduce plastics and cabin waste.
Hi Fly has pledged to eliminate single-use plastic by year’s end.
Plastic waste has reached epidemic proportions in the world’s oceans, with an estimated 100 million tonnes dumped to date, according to the United Nations. An explorer said recently he found trash on the ocean floor during the deepest dive ever made by a human inside a submarine.
Legislators from U.S. cities have banned plastic straws, while single-use plastic items such as straws, forks and knives, as well as cotton buds, will be banned in the European Union by 2021.
Airlines have the challenge of sourcing sustainable alternatives to plastics that are also light, since adding weight would require higher fuel consumption.
Most major airlines are participating in a global aviation deal called Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) that requires them to limit their emissions or offset them by buying carbon credits from designated environmental projects around the world, starting in 2021.
