Recycling above the clouds – How blueberry juice cartons and plastic bottles from flights end up in circulation
It's possible to reduce waste and recycle as much material as possible into new raw materials even at an altitude of 10 kilometers. Next, we're testing the recycling of iconic blueberry juice cartons.
Millions of customers travel with us annually, so recycling, packaging of products used on flights, and food waste management matter. Small things become big when multiplied by the 100,000 flights we operate annually.
About 75 percent of Finnair's waste is generated on flights or in the operations of Finnair Kitchen, which is responsible for flight meal services. Therefore, improvements made on flights and in the Kitchen are particularly significant, says Anne Bäckström, Quality Manager responsible for recycling at Finnair Kitchen.
"Our customers also value recycling on flights. Based on a survey conducted in 2023, our customers rated increasing recycling as Finnair's second most important environmental action after reducing emissions," Anne says.
Recycling rate improves from small streams
Finnair has two circular economy metrics that we monitor particularly closely: recycling rate and the amount of waste generated per passenger. We want to keep the amount of waste as small as possible and, on the other hand, recycle as much of the generated waste as possible.
Last year, Finnair's recycling rate was 28%. Why is the number so small?
"Last year, 70 percent of all waste generated in our operations was international food waste. This includes both food waste and packaging that have been in contact with food returning from outside the EU. The recycling of international food waste is restricted by legislation: to prevent the spread of animal and plant diseases, the waste must be incinerated," Anne explains.
Despite this, the recycling rate has been increased, as it was 22% in 2021. According to Anne, improving the recycling rate has been achieved through small streams.
"Last year, glass recycling was started in small ATR aircraft. Currently, we can recycle aluminum cans, glass bottles, clear plastic bottles, clear plastic meal covers, and biowaste packaged in cardboard or plastic returning from European flights, from the waste generated on aircraft."
The goal is that soon juice packages and plastic and cardboard cups can also be recycled. Disposable cups form a significant part of the waste generated during flights. In 2019, a Finnair passenger used an average of 2.4 cups during a flight. By reducing this to about two cups, especially on shorter trips, we could reduce waste generation by over 1.3 tons per million passengers.
We are testing the recycling of blueberry juice cartons
This year, Finnair is testing cardboard recycling on flights arriving at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. The recycling potential for cardboard is significant: we deliver about one million cartons of blueberry juice and 14 million cardboard cups to our flights annually.
"During the test period, we are collecting juice and milk cartons as well as cardboard cups from European and domestic flights returning to Helsinki. Flights operated by ATR aircraft are not included in the test period because there isn't enough space in the aircraft to collect the fractions," Anne says.
Space is also limited in larger aircraft types, and this is one of the challenges in improving the recycling rate.
"It's not possible to add extra trolleys to flights for sorting the fractions, but during the test period, we aim to find workable solutions to this challenge as well. The results have been promising so far, and we have managed to collect a good amount of cardboard for recycling."
The amount of waste per passenger has decreased
In recent years, Finnair has also succeeded in reducing the amount of waste. While in 2021, 340 grams of waste was generated per passenger, last year it was only 213 grams. This figure includes waste generated in our operations at our home base Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and on return flights.
The amount of waste has been reduced, for example, by redesigning the packaging of products sold on flights and reducing packaging materials. Food waste is also generated less than before, as customers have more choice in terms of pre-ordered products.
"We no longer pack food for flights just in case, but deliver fresh products according to orders. This is particularly important on a flight because everything that adds weight consumes more energy, and products cannot be returned from the flight for reuse," Anne explains.
You can pre-order meals when booking flights, via the Manage booking page, the Finnair app or during online check-in, depending on the availability. You can read more about pre-order meals here.