Sustainability on board
What we do
We’re making small changes to our onboard experience, such as reducing the weight of onboard items, making conscious meal choices and trying to recycle as much as possible.
Reducing weight
If a plane weighs less, it consumes less fuel. The result? Fewer CO₂-emissions are produced. We reduce our emissions by decreasing the weight of our seats, trolleys, and other items we bring on board.
The changes may be small, but they have some effect: on average, a three-hour flight produces 31.045 kg CO₂. A weight reduction of 1000 kg saves us 275 kg CO₂. We’re improving our efforts constantly; every kilo counts.
Our catering trolleys have been replaced with lighter versions. It saves us an average of 400 kg per intercontinental flight.
The glassware in World Business Class is 98 g less heavy. That saves us 14 kg per flight, which adds up to 400 tonnes less CO₂ emissions annually. Challenging to picture such an amount? It’s about as much as the offset of 17 Dutch households per year.
We’ve implemented the following minor changes to reduce the weight of our seats:
- We’ve reduced the weight of Economy Class seats on our Boeing 737 by a kg per seat.
- The new World Business Class seats weigh about 21 kg less than previous World Business Class models.
- The new Premium Comfort Class seats are a kg lighter than previous models.
Our flights departing from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol carry less drinking water. This saves us up to 2,7 million kilograms of CO₂ per year, according to our Climate Action Plan 2022.
The packaging of our sandwiches on board is made from plastic. This is not the most sustainable choice, but plastic is lighter than other materials. For this reason, we also use wooden cutlery on our European flights.
In World Business Class, we serve our meals with reusable cutlery, and the drinks are poured into reusable glassware.
The tray you receive your snack or meal on is made of lighter polypropylene (a type of plastic) than the trays we used previously. This material is less harmful to the environment than other types of plastic. When a tray is broken, we use it to produce new ones.
Did you notice our tray mats are gone? We replaced the mats with anti-slip material integrated into the tray. This saved us about 22 million disposable tray mats per year.
Conscious meal choices
Every year, we serve around 40 million meals on board of our flights. We try to think about environmental impact when selecting our meals.
Good catering is not just about yummy flavours but also about sustainable and responsible suppliers. When selecting a supplier, we try to ensure their environmental impact is low. We pick suppliers based on the whole production process: from the start until the disposal of the product.
For example, the fish we use on board our flights departing from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is certified by MSC, ASC or features in the green section of the WWF Sustainable Seafood guide.
Recycling
By 2030, we aim to consistently produce 50% less residual waste than in 2011. In 2021 we achieved this percentage, but we realise this was because we had fewer flights due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This means we have yet to reach our goal.
We’re working hard to further reduce our waste production. Most of this waste is made on board of our flights: we’ve highlighted 3 of our recycling projects of onboard products.
We collect and recycle 14 types of waste on our European flights: cardboard, metal, glass, cans, plastic, and more. Annually, our recycling partner recycles about 300 tons of plastic for us. Plastic coming from PET bottles is our most recycled material (80.000 kg).
Our crew collects coffee grounds and cans separately for recycling. The coffee grounds release biogas during recycling, which can be used to power vehicles. Whatever is left afterwards is used for composting.
Recycling our coffee grounds and cans is an initiative from our Employee Sustainability Challenge, in which our employees develop sustainable ideas.
Don’t feel like eating your snack? No problem, we will re-use it on another European flight. Our snacks have an extended expiry date, and we usually don’t have to keep them in the fridge.
Challenging rules and regulations
It’s challenging to improve the sustainability of our industry. For some destinations, strict recycling rules and regulations prevent us from recycling as much as we want. We work hard to ensure these rules and regulations are changed. Once this happens, we hope to recycle more waste.
What you can do
As an airline, it’s our responsibility to contribute towards making the aviation industry more sustainable. But there are small things you can do to contribute.
Flying for a holiday or a business trip? Whatever the occasion, consider bringing less and lighter baggage with you on your trip. However small the impact might be, every kilo counts.
A small thing you can do to help us reduce waste is to bring your own (empty) water bottle. Our crew will happily top it up for you on board of your flight.
Did you know you don’t have to print your boarding pass? After online check-in, you’ll automatically receive an electronic boarding pass via e-mail. Simply use your mobile phone to show our crew your boarding pass.
Think twice before you fly. If a destination is close to home, you could also consider taking the train or bus. These modes of transport emit less CO₂ than a flight.
Eating fewer animal products can have a positive impact on the environment. On European flights, we therefore only serve vegetarian sandwiches. We always have a vegetarian option to pick from on intercontinental flights, but the availability is limited.
Do you want to be sure to receive a vegan or vegetarian meal? Reserve it before departure.
Frequently asked questions
Making our onboard experience more sustainable is 1 of the things we’re doing to become more sustainable. We also invest in the following:
- Sustainable Aviation Fuel
- Reforestation
- Sustainable aircraft prototypes
- Sustainable ground operations
- Fleet renewal
When a plane carries less weight, it uses less kerosine (the fuel we use to power our aircraft). Using less kerosine means the flight emits fewer CO₂ emissions. Even small changes, such as reducing the weight of our seats or the weight of our trolleys on board, can reduce our emissions a little.
Do you want to contribute? Consider taking less and lighter baggage with you.
Plastic might not seem the most sustainable choice, but it is lighter than other materials. If a plane weighs less, it consumes less fuel and produces fewer CO₂-emissions. Because of this reason, we still use it onboard our flights. The effects might be small, but every kilo counts.
For some destinations, strict import rules and regulations prevent us from recycling as much as we want to. Our team works hard to ensure these rules and regulations are changed. This way, we can hopefully reach our goal of 50% less residual waste by 2030.
It’s our responsibility to contribute towards making the aviation industry more sustainable, but there are small things you can do to contribute. Bring less baggage, bring your water bottle and use an electronic boarding pass are a few examples. You can also contribute to Sustainable Aviation Fuel, a more sustainable alternative for our fuel kerosene.