The airline industry generates a considerable amount of waste. A large proportion of this comes from in-flight meals for passengers, most of which are packaged in single-use packaging. On average, this amounts to about 1.43 kg of waste per passenger. Because this packaging may have come into contact with exotic animal by-products, the legislation is strict, which makes recycling difficult, and the waste is often incinerated or dumped in landfill.
DeSter, a producer of packaging and materials for the aviation and food industries, wants to change this. With the Recycle2FlyAgain project, we want to develop a circular solution in cooperation with KLM, KCS and the KU Leuven to reduce waste production within the aviation industry.
Concretely, we want to focus on reusable food packaging such as serving trays, oven dishes, cups, bowls, etc. and recycle them into the same products at the end of their life so that the material retains its value as much as possible.
deSter
Partners KLM, KCS, KU Leuven
Sectors
Themes
Organisations
We are experiencing a lot of concrete interest from various corners of the aviation industry, despite the fact that the sector is going through a difficult time. For example, several closed-loop recycling projects are already being introduced at major airlines in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
The Recycle2FlyAgain project focuses on recycling within the aviation sector. However, there are several lessons and concepts that we can extend to other sectors. For example, we are actively researching reusable food packaging (hamburger boxes, cutlery, coffee cups, etc.) for a very large fast-food chain, which can also be recycled in a closed cycle. Furthermore, we are looking into the possibilities of closed-loop recycling for applications such as takeaway and delivery meals.