Take-off for innovative partnership between Lufthansa Group and WasteAid to tackle airline waste

WasteAid, the UK-based environmental and development charity, has announced an innovative collaboration with Lufthansa Group to identify ways to reduce the amount of waste from its flights that end up in landfill.

The initiative will focus on flights arriving at Mumbai airport in India and aims to find ways to increase circularity as well as recycling rates of onboard materials coming into Mumbai Airport. The project’s initial stage includes a scoping study to map and showcase the current waste management practices at the Lufthansa’s outstation in Mumbai airport and learn what Lufthansa can do to improve circularity of the materials on their flights. The project also aims to pilot approaches to return in-flight items to the circular economy and keep finite resources within a closed loop for as long as possible in order to reduce their consumption.

WasteAid will work closely with Lufthansa Group and it’s airlines (Lufthansa and SWISS), Mumbai airport, and suppliers such as catering companies and local recycling businesses.

Manuel Henle, Sustainability Onboard and Lounges at Lufthansa Group, said: “Our ambition is to only have items onboard that can be reused, recycled, or composted after flights. We have already implemented several initiatives to replace single-use plastics and aluminium on our flights, but recognise that there is more to do. Recycling is a major step towards not wasting finite resources.”

According to Manuel, “Projects such as our partnership with WasteAid in Mumbai are a crucial step on our flight path to making our ambition a reality. We’re looking forward to working with the WasteAid team and our stakeholders to identify steps that we can take to increase waste recycling while also creating opportunities to support the local green economy.”

More than 80 Lufthansa Group flights arrive at Mumbai airport every month carrying more than 20 000 passengers. This equates to approximately 15,000 kilograms of potential recyclables every year. While the company has made strides in reducing the waste generated in Europe, they are keen to identify further steps they can take at their multiple outstations.

Ceris Turner-Bailes, Chief Executive Officer at WasteAid, said: “The global airline industry is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet, so we’re really pleased to see Lufthansa Group taking these positive steps to reduce its environmental impact while also creating economic opportunities for local communities.

“By adopting Circular Economy practices, airlines can enhance sustainability, reduce costs, improve efficiency, and authentically improve their green credentials while positively contributing to the environment and local communities.”.

More than two-thirds of the world’s population has no access to formal waste management infrastructure leaving them with little alternative but to dump or burn their waste. This releases more CO2 and other harmful toxins into the atmosphere than the global aviation industry and increases the risk of health issues, particularly among children.

WasteAid works with communities around the world who are facing some of the greatest challenges caused by the global waste crisis. Our flagship programmes provide training, mentoring, investment, and collaboration opportunities to deliver sustainable waste management solutions that improve the environment while empowering local communities to leverage the value of waste to their benefit.