Our thinking

Plane and simple?

30 August, 2024

Delta Air Lines is embarking on a significant yet deceptively complex sustainability initiative: replacing single-use plastic cups with recyclable paper ones on its flights. While cutting 7 million pounds of plastic waste annually is a step forward, it won’t impact decarbonisation – with jet fuel accounting for 90% of Delta’s emissions.

Delta knows that Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is the most promising lever to reduce emissions and decarbonise their business, but there just isn’t enough supply to meet demand. So, while it seeks to solve that, it’s also focusing on the small wins.

The transition from plastic to paper cups is more complex than it appears. Delta needed cups that could handle hot and cold beverages and be both home and industrially compostable to meet European recycling standards, as well as user-friendly for flight attendants. So, after extensive testing, Delta partnered with Blulabs to produce innovative, “plastic-free” cups with an aqueous liner that makes them recyclable and compostable.

This effort highlights a broader sustainability challenge: balancing environmental goals with operational needs and addressing smaller but still complex issues while working on larger ones like reducing jet fuel emissions. The new cups underscore the efforts required for even small sustainability measures, so let’s see how they fare with SAF soon.

By Bertie Bateman