News
Airline industry gathers data to determine best management of cabin waste
July 5th 2024
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is collaborating with the Aviation Sustainability Forum (ASF) to compile a standardized Cabin Waste Composition Audit (CWCA) that will be available from September. Read More » CWCA audits have been trialed twice, last November and in April, on 25 short, medium and long-haul flights out of Singapore Changi Airport. The audit’s methodology has been developed by IATA. Preliminary results show more than 3.6 million metric tonnes of cabin and catering waste is produced each year and 65% of it is food and beverage content. Untouched meals account for 18% of all waste. Audit data will assist the airline industry and policymakers in reducing waste produced and identify opportunities for re-use and re-cycling, IATA said. “With better data policymakers can harmonize regulations in turn optimizing the industry’s capability to sort, re-cycle and safely re-use waste that cannot be avoided,” said IATA senior vice president sustainability and chief economist, Marie Owens Thomsen.
