Tackling International Airline Catering Waste Management: Life Zero Cabin Waste Project. State of the Art and First Steps

Abstract

Concerns about cabin waste date back more than two decades. However, in the past few years, several airlines and stakeholders (notably catering companies) have increased their efforts to tackle this issue. A number of factors such as low landfill disposal rates, particularly for inorganic fractions, lack of appropriate facilities and restrictive regulations had traditionally discouraged airlines and other actors to proactively look for solutions. LIFE+ Zero Cabin Waste aims to create a sustainable model to reduce, re-use and recycle (including energy recovery) waste recollected in Iberia airplane cabins in Madrid-Barajas Airport (Spain) and set the basis for its replication by other airlines and related stakeholders in the future. The objectives of this project are: properly separate the cabin waste on board, demonstrate that waste can be dealt with in a more environmentally friendly way contributing to the reduction of the high carbon footprint associated to the generation and the current inadequate management of cabin waste and set the basis for replication through standard protocols. The project, although it is in the first stage, has already been laid the bases and recommendations for future implementations and improvements that will allow reaching the proposed objectives.

Biological Pathway Introduction of Quarantine Animal Disease through International Waste at Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Indonesia

“…The second pathway, international waste was unloaded from international aircraft, then destroyed in incinerators inside the airport area. Actions taken by the Airport Authority for the second pathway are: (1) The Airport Authority has carried out supervision, (2) The Airport Authority has socialized the implementation of correct waste management.…”

“…There was a possibility that the waste was used as animal feed. The actions taken by the Airport Authority for the third pathway are: (1) The Airport Authority has carried out supervision, (2) The Airport Authority has conducted socialization on the implementation of correct waste management. In fact, the inflight catering has not treated international waste according to regulations.…”

Identifying the effective taxonomies of airline green operations strategy

“…This indicates that staff members are more concerned to reduce GHG emissions at the global level because of the 2050 target for airlines mentioned above. Nevertheless, according to Blanca-Alcubilla et al (2018), as a result of inappropriate facilities and restrictive regulations, a number of factors have discouraged airlines and other actors from proactively looking for solutions such as low landfill disposal rates (particularly for inorganic wastes) (Blanca-Alcubilla et al, 2018).…”

Why Is Airline Food Always Dreadful? Analysis of Factors Influencing Passengers’ Food Wasting Behaviour

“…The project 'LIFE zero cabin waste' [16][17][18][19] aimed to reduce the amount of airline cabin waste that ends up in landfill and prevent the generation of waste, particularly in the case of Spanish airlines. In this project, several studies had proposed solutions to tackle food waste issue mainly focusing on recycling and reusing the recyclable materials [18,20]. Solutions to reduce airline food waste were mainly proposed from the airline's perspective.…”