Airlines May Have a Tougher Road to Reducing Plastics Than Hotels
Photo Credit: A Boeing 737-8 Max on May 16, 2018. Much of the interior of an aircraft is made of plastic, including seatbacks and tray tables. Flickr / Caribb
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It's easy to say that travel companies should ditch plastics to help save the environment, but this will be much harder for airlines than some other sectors.
Many travel companies are now working to reduce their plastic waste, but is this a taller order for some sectors than others?
Airlines face challenges here that hotels simply don’t, according to Christian de Boer, managing director of Jaya House River Park, a 36-room luxury boutique hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia. “For hotels, I think we might have a leg up on this one,” said de Boer.
“Airlines have a much more challenging job in sustainability and plastic reduction than hotels,” said Anne De Hauw, founder of design firm In Air Travel Experience, citing by email time constraints between takeoff and landing, onboard space, and weight among other factors.
Chiefly, hotels are not as concerned with the weight restrictions that dictate so much of airline operations. Plastic allows airlines to cater food and beverage while minimizing the plane’s weight, thereby increasing fuel efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. Replacing plastic with heavier glass or china would hav
