According to a report conducted by Green America, airlines across the globe are producing over 800 million pounds each year in waste. Although 75% of that waste is technically recyclable, the report indicates that only 20% of it is actually being sent to recycle.
The consumer watchdog, Green America, just released the findings from their Responsible Shopper report conduction a review on airline recycling habits and the findings may shock airline passengers. Victoria Kreha, one of the lead authors on the report, stated that it was vital the public be made aware of the negligence in airline waste management. She added that some airlines are not even recycling their aluminum cans.
The report states that back in 2004 airlines produced enough aluminum cans to construct 58 Boeing 747 jets, however not one of these cans was recycled. Most of this waste is generated in-flight according to the study, but 500 million tonnes of material which could be recycled is being sent to landfills.
The report gave graded reviews to 11 major airlines based on their recycling habits. The highest grade, which was only a B-, was granted to Delta Airlines as well as Virgin America, but United Airlines and US Airways received an F.
Kreha stated that even she was shocked at how little these airlines were doing to try and maintain an environmentally sound waste management programme. She indicated that not a single airline was actually recycling things that are commonly recycled.
She also encouraged passengers to ask airline attendants when they collect their waste what will be happening to it. It seems that putting more pressure on airlines to recycle may help improve the airlines enthusiasm on the subject matter.
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