Within a highly-restrictive regulatory context, Air France-KLM strives to minimize its waste production and increase the proportion that is recycled or reprocessed.
reducing non-recycled waste by 2030 relative to the 2011 baseline
Air France had already eliminated of its single use plastic items (SUP) i.e. 1,424 tons.
of the aircraft A340 can be recovered, reused or recycled.
About 70% of our waste results from in-flight catering and cabin cleaning. The remaining 30% results from our own production in, for example, our Cargo and Maintenance businesses, with only a small percentage coming from our office-based activities.
To achieve its target, Air France-KLM applies the principles of the circular economy: rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle. To seek solutions and eliminate barriers to the management of in-flight catering and aeronautical waste, which are both subject to strict international regulations, we actively cooperate with the Authorities and our supply chain.
In 2021, the Group reduced its non-recycled waste by 70% compared to the 2011 baseline. This result is in part explained by the pandemic and its impact on our activities and, with the recovery in traffic, we remain fully mobilized around maintaining our trajectory and achieving our target.
Although most of our waste from in-flight catering is subject to strict regulation and may not be reused, recycling is an integral part of our sustainability strategy.
Air France, KLM and Transavia deploy continuous improvement programs for the management of in-flight waste. Over the years, many items have been redesigned or replaced by more sustainable alternatives. Examples include the redesign of all the elements of food trays to use fewer materials and the introduction of lighter-weight trolleys.
The Group makes it a point of honour that its airlines rigorously sort waste on board their aircraft. This concerns plastic bottles, juice cartons and cans for all short, medium and long-haul flights to Paris.
On all the European flights, glass, cans, aluminium lids, paper, EPS boxes, PET plastic bottles and other forms of plastic are also sorted and recycled.
Two main levers enable a reduction in food waste: the adjustment of the catering embarked on flights and a strict policy of merchandise inventory management.
Based on statistics and historic flight load factors, and passenger habits, the number of meals actually embarked is regularly re-evaluated. This re-evaluation both prevents waste arising and reduces production and transportation costs. However, owing to the unpredictable load factors resulting from the Covid-19 public health crisis, these measures have been temporarily suspended. New measures have been established and will be implemented as soon as there is a return to a higher volume of flight operations.
Since 2020, a pre-selection of hot food in the Business cabin has been offered to customers, limiting the quantity of food waste and disposable cutlery, and reducing the mass embarked on board. While this service had been suspended during the Covid-19 crisis due to the disruption of the flight schedule, it was reinstated in 2021 for the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, North America and South America regions, with a full roll-out scheduled for 2022.
Whether for reasons of hygiene and food safety, or to reduce the weight embarked, the in-flight service uses a substantial quantity of single-use plastic products. The Air France-KLM Group is committed to reducing this source of pollution through two main levers: eliminating single use plastic wherever possible; replacing these plastics with other materials when more sustainable alternatives are available.
By 2021, Air France had already eliminated 48% of its single use plastic items (SUP) i.e. 1,424 tons. Its target is to replace 80% of SUP articles by the end of 2025 relative to 2018.
At Transavia, these results amount to seven million single use plastic items no longer being distributed every year on the scheduled flights, i.e. 41 tons of plastics.
The Group is developing actions to give a second life to waste like, for example, the recycling of used uniforms which are transformed into carpeting on board KLM aircraft or the upcycling of blankets used on board into goodies for our customers.
Légende
From engine parts to aircraft seats, cargo pallets and broken suit cases: waste is produced by our engineering & maintenance, cargo and flight operations. Although most aeronautical waste is also subject to strict regulation, we have implemented many initiatives to reduce non-recycled production waste.
Whenever their repair is no longer viable, aeronautical components are sent to the internal recycling and scrap team. Wherever the rules and regulations allow, the cradle-to-cradle principle is applied to reintegrate waste into a new production cycle. Scraps that cannot be integrated within a new production cycle are collected by external partners and either demolished or transformed into secondary raw materials.
Air France-KLM applies a strict policy concerning the end of life of its aircraft, prioritizing organizations that dismantle/deconstruct aircraft with reference to the environmental standards in force.
Re used: rehabilitation to avoid new production
Re manufacturing: reprocessing of the materials to manufacture new components without the need for raw materials
Up-graded: refurbishment and improvement of some components like cabin seats.
During the dismantling of an A340-type aircraft, for example, it is estimated that more than 80% of the aircraft can be recovered, reused or recycled.
