Qantas makes history with first flight to produce zero landfill waste

The world’s first “waste-free” flight took off from Sydney this week.

 

Qantas flew the first-ever “zero waste” flight from Sydney to Adelaide Wednesday morning.

 

Fully compostable meal containers made from sugar cane and cutlery made from crop starch were some of the alternative products introduced to the flight.

 

Cabin crew were on hand to make sure any paper passes and tags were recycled appropriately.

 

The event was used to launch Qantas’ plan to eliminate 100 million single-use plastic items by the end of 2020, and reduce the airline’s total waste by 75 per cent by the end of 2021.

 

According to the carrier’s Domestic chief, Andrew David, the Sydney to Adelaide one-way flight would normally create 34kg of waste.

 

“Over the course of a year this route produces 150 tonnes of waste — eventually all of that will go,” he said.

 

“We are doing it because our cabin crew see this waste and want it eliminated* and increasingly our shareholders are demanding we do more to address our environmental footprint.”

 

Qantas said there would be an additional cost to the airline as a result of changing products but promised this would not be passed on to passengers.