Airlines Take a Step Toward Garbage-Free Flying

[Remarkableriots]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/airlines-take-a-step-toward-garbage-free-flying/ar-AACqAvr?ocid=AMZN

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One of them has an experiment lined up for Wednesday morning, the very day chosen by the UN: United has scheduled a flight to California that’s going to go all green.

The world’s second-largest airline plans to reduce cabin waste to zero, fly on a biofuel mixture and “erase” the remaining emissions with carbon offsets—all on a one-off flight from Chicago to Los Angeles. The company calls the trip by one of its Boeing 737-900ERs a “flight for the planet,” asserting that it’s the first time an airline has ever combined all three efforts on a single commercial flight.

 

When it comes to garbage at least, airlines would like to see their flights produce zero waste someday, migrating to compostable and fully recyclable service ware such as cups and food wrappers. 

 

The industry has taken some decidedly modest green steps over the years. Recently, many U.S. carriers, including American Airlines Group Inc., Alaska Air Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and United, have replaced their single-use plastic stir sticks and straws with those made from bamboo, birch and other sustainable materials.

 

United has some longer-term goals in mind as well. In December, Fulcrum BioEnergy Inc., announced plans to open a processing facility in Gary, Indiana, to convert 700,000 tons of municipal trash from Chicago into 33 million gallons of biofuel, which can be blended with traditional jet fuel.