PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
An air passenger generates 0.82 kg to 2.5 kg of waste per flight depending on distance and cabin class, with an average of 1.43 kg (IATA, 2014). According to the Airports Council International, there were around 6.3 billion plane passengers worldwide in 2013, which equates to around 9 billion kg of waste.
Currently, most airlines recycle very little waste, which is typically low quality due to multiple mixed fractions. Cabin waste (both organic and inorganic) is therefore usually compacted and incinerated or disposed in landfill. Such waste can come from outside the EU or be generated on EU flights. The former is subject to much stricter regulations, as it is considered as animal by-product, a high-risk waste fraction. Its management in the EU is restricted to landfilling according to Regulation EC 1069/2009.
Airlines have increased their efforts in recent years to tackle the issue of cabin waste, but these efforts are usually fragmented and lack a comprehensive approach. Landfilling is currently the most common practice in Spain. In cases where no distinction is made between international or EU flights, all waste is treated in the same way.
OBJECTIVES
LIFE Zero Cabin Waste aimed to create an integrated model to reduce, reuse and recycle (including energy recovery) waste collected on airplanes, and to establish the basis for other airlines to replicate its approach. The project would focus on recoverable (light packaging plastics, cans, cartons, glass and paper) and municipal solid waste (MSW, the organic fraction mixed with other inseparable fractions), from international and internal EU flights.
The project would be implemented at Madrid’s Barajas airport, where Iberia’s caterer Gate Gourmet currently generates around 6 000 tonnes of waste per year (4 000 of which is international). It planned to train crew and staff, adjust equipment, carry out a collection and separation protocol, process waste fractions, and implement a pilot treatment for international waste. Transferability would be boosted by replicating the project’s model at Heathrow airport during the final year of its duration.
Specifically, the project aimed to:
- Demonstrate that with good management practices, stakeholder engagement and coordination, a high percentage of cabin waste can be separated on board;
- Show that international waste can be processed without risk to human or animal health, and that current legislation is overprotective and wasteful;
- Contribute to the reduction of the high carbon footprint associated with the generation and inadequate management of cabin waste (The environmental impact will be monitored through Life Cycle Assessment); and
- Set the basis for replication through standard protocols.
RESULTS
The LIFE Zero Cabin Waste project reduced waste generation by 12%, higher than the 5% target, but only 42% of cabin waste was diverted from landfill instead of the expected 80%. While MSW cabin waste can be collected, its recovery as compost or some other option proved difficult. However, separation of waste on board has become a common practice for Iberia, thanks to the project, and the airline will continue to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that as much waste as possible is recycled. Also, internal follow-up meetings were scheduled and will continue to be held so as to assess areas for improvement.
The objective of showing that international waste can be processed without risk to human or animal health was not achieved. A prototype was assembled, but it could not be put into operation owing to a lack of permits. This provides important lessons for future projects wishing to make legislative changes, as the only way to make meaningful advances and improve the current situation is indeed by changing the current legislation.
Also, while the project succeeded in lowing the carbon footprint of cabin waste, the expected rate was not reached. Furthermore, the aim to replicate the project’s ZEROCABIN system was also not achieved, although the process of collecting cabin waste was tested in other airlines.
In November 2019, the Zero Cabin Waste team held a meeting in Brussels with representatives of the International Air Transport Association, the airline KLM and the European Commission’s health department, DG SANTE, to address problems relating to restrictive legislation on catering waste produced by international flight. This meeting led to the establishment of a working group, which includes IATA, within the European Commission on this issue. The project team also met with Spanish authorities concerned with waste legislation.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).
