The EU-sponsored €2.6 million (approximately £2.3 million) to the “Zero Cabin Waste” pilot project in Madrid.
The project aims to make better design of eating and drinking experiences and more systematic separate collection on planes.
To avoid food contamination, food-grade tableware is made of raw materials and is often land-filled or incinerated instead of recycled, when possible.
Closed environments often miss out when it comes to implementing separate collection of waste to allow for more recycling, particularly on planes.
Collection4recycling says this might have justified the use and untreated disposal of single-use tableware, but this is a missed opportunity for a more efficient and circular economy.
The company adds we do not need to wait until 2020 to start collecting waste separately on planes. Cups, trays and cutlery made of paper or plastics, aluminium cans or PET bottles can all be easily separately collected to be recycled, following the lead set by households.