Dubai: Emirates airline recycles 500,000kg of plastic and glass discarded on board flights

Dubai: Emirates airline recycles 500,000kg of plastic and glass discarded on board flights

From blankets to toys and children's bags, several cool, eco-friendly items are created from the waste that would have otherwise gone to the landfills

Published: Wed 22 Feb 2023, 11:38 AM

Dubai-based Emirates airline has recycled more than 500,000kg of plastic and glass in 2022. This is about the same weight of a fully loaded A380 aircraft, the carrier said.

“On board every flight that lands in Dubai, Emirates cabin crew work hard to quickly separate glass and plastic bottles, before they are sent to a recycling plant in Dubai. The glass is separated by colour and crushed. This ‘cullet’ or recycled glass that is ready to be re-melted is then sent to glass manufacturers in the UAE to include in their batch mix for new bottles. The plastic bottles are cleaned, chopped into flakes, melted into pellets, and sent to manufacturers to make other plastic products,” Emirates said on Wednesday.

The airline has managed to divert thousands of kilogrammes of glass and plastic away from landfills. The carrier implemented the recycling initiative after its cabin crew suggested it in 2019.

Blankets made from recycled plastic

Over the last six years, the airline has been offering sustainable blankets made from recycled plastic bottles to Economy passengers