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Next-Gen Forum
46 / NEXT-GEN FORUM
Green futures
The next generation will have to live with the fallout of climate change. With that in mind, we ask our Next-Gen Forum for their thoughts and priorities for a sustainable future
The next generation of onboard hospitality decision-makers needs to be heard, so here Onboard Hospitality gives them a voice!
Our Next-Gen Forum is a panel of young professionals making their mark on the inflight services industry. They bring fresh perspectives and new ideas on hot topics and we are featuring them in each issue of Onboard Hospitality and online. With the importance of sustainability at the forefront of discussions, in this issue we ask...
WHAT AREAS OF SUSTAINABILITY ARE YOU PERSONALLY MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT? WHAT SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?
Alexandra Allen
Design manager at John Horsfall As a designer, my focus is constantly on looking forward to upcoming trends and new innovations in the market. With so many new, interesting technologies and sustainable innovations in textiles, the most exciting element of design is to use these initiatives to help futureproof our work. New developments in sustainable textiles are emerging - new fibres derived from natural sources, for example, reducing micro-fibre pollution; textile waste initiatives, and ways to improve textile circularity. The really interesting challenge is then interpreting these innovations into an accessible, commercial format for the aviation industry's needs.
Sustainability is just as important to John Horsfall as creativity. Because of this our Re-Thread fillings are made
from 100% recycled polyester as standard. Our fillings are now produced from polyester fibres spun from 100% recycled plastic bottles.
This could be recycling as many as 50 bottles to produce the filling of a mattress pad, limiting drastically the amount of plastic bottle waste going to landfill. Pairing this filling with our Re-Thread recycled fabrics can result in a 100% recycled onboard product.
For many years there have been multiple discussions with our customers on the ever-increasing importance of sustainable initiatives in the aviation industry. We are so proud to finally see some of these sustainable projects appearing onboard.
We encourage our airline clients in to invest in well-made, considerately sourced, long-lasting products, which can be safely reused time and time again; therefore reducing the amount of textiles heading to landfill.
We aim for a big impact on the passenger experience, not on the Earth!
Bernd Koperdraad
Export manager, Sola The Netherlands The most interesting areas of sustainability are, in my perspective, the economic and environmental areas.
What makes these areas so interesting is that we need to see how we can create a stable world economy without damaging the environment too much.
At Sola we became a member of Amfori BSCI in 2018. When a company becomes a member of Amfori BSCI it agrees to actively contribute to an open and sustainable trade. We are contributing to this internally with a recycling programme that ensures carton packaging is reused as much as possible, by giving it a new function. All remaining carton and paper are collected and disposed from other waste. Our plastic cutlery bags and polybags are slowly being replaced by paper bags and we’re developing new, plastic free packaging options for our existing products.
Anne Charlotte Moreel
Lead designer, Clip Limited As a designer, I'm really interested in materials. I think the materials used completely
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change the vision of the object, its message, and its intention. Working with environmentally neutral materials is a real challenge. I also like to find out about new eco-responsible materials made from natural, recycled, or postconsumer materials.
Because my job is, above all, to create new objects, I like to rethink these designs so that they are eco-designed. The way objects are going to be made is, in my opinion, as important as the materials used. I also like to think about the life-cycle of my object, from its creation to its end of life. The world is covered with waste, it is important for me not to add to that, and to imagine products that respect the planet.
When I create a new product, I think about its materials, design, and also its afterlife. These are really three notions that are important for me.
At Clip, we work more and more
on eco-responsible projects. We systematically offer our customers the opportunity to reduce their waste, to choose better thought out, simpler solutions, with natural materials so that they respect the planet.
We recently worked with experts in eco-designed materials to offer an alternative to plastic when creating meal trays. We have also designed less bulky trays, with a better use scenario, allowing us to take care of the planet while also helping the flight attendants during service. We reduced the weight of the elements present onboard, which in turn reduces the carbon emissions of the aircraft.
We always think about the life-cycle of the object, whether it's recycling for tableware items, or also take-away for amenity kits.
In the future, we would like to be able to offer entirely eco-designed projects to our customers. Even though this may have a higher cost associated with it, we continuously work on offering suitable solutions to our airline customers. We want to play our part and help convince our customers that this issue will become more and more important as passengers. They increasingly expect airlines to do more for our planet. We all must play our part and the time to act is now, to help preserve our planet for future generations. •
GET INVOLVED
ARE YOU (RELATIVELY!) NEW TO THE INDUSTRY?
Have your say by joining the Next-Gen Forum. Contact april. waterston@onboardhospitality.com
