In conversation: Philippe

IN CONVERSATION / 43/ 43

ONCE YOU COMMIT TO CHANGE, A ZERO WASTE SOLUTION CAN HAPPEN

Sustainable inflight service solutions are now possible and are set to roll out fast in the next year predicts Philippe de Naeyer, director sustainability at deSter

Late last year, deSter became the first and only supplier on the airline market given EFSA approval on a closed loop recycling system for food-use plastic tableware. This took two years to achieve but finally offers airline’s a truly sustainable solution for rotable items.

In making sustainable choices we believe the guiding principles must be around the circular economy and waste hierarchy to avoid waste. Making something once, to be used once before recycling doesn't really make sense. Better to create something that will last as long as possible and use materials that can ultimately be recycled and made into the same product again.

It is a common sense approach but for airlines, legislation around food waste/contamination has always made it difficult to deal with a reusable product’s end of life. Now we have created a process whereby products such as serving trays, bowls, cups or drinking glasses are produced in-house, delivered to the airline, used onboard, then collected for washing and reuse. If the product is at the end of its life, it is collected, re-ground and subsequently down-cycled into a new product.

When culinary meets tech

Within this process tableware items can be re-used a minimum 150 times (potentially up to even 400), then made into a new product ensuring food safety throughout. KLM, with its caterer KCS, is already using this process and others will follow very soon. There are a lot of small details to consider in this process but once you commit to change, change can happen. You can move to a zero waste solution.

When the challenges of reusables really cannot be overcome, we are working most on compostable items made from renewal materials that can go with the catering food waste. Our goal is to ensure every product we offer by 2025 is recycled, reused or composted. And by 2030 every product we offer will create zero waste – clients buying from us will have to be part of the recycle process.

Increasingly airlines want to do the right thing and are grappling with the complexities of inflight sustainability and the options available. Focusing on cutting waste is the most logical and straight-forward approach and as these initiatives and policies are adopted more widely, momentum will build and inflight service can be an integral part of the sustainable solution not an unfathomable part of the problem. •