As airlines look towards removing plastic from the aircraft, many are turning to paper and paper-type products to take their place.
SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) are following this trend, with their New Nordic Dining Cubes, and how they can make them more sustainable.
New Nordic Dining Cube – Image, SAS
The airline says this move will allow them to save up to 51 tons of plastics per year.
Normally, some form of plastic is often necessary due to food safety requirements. Therefore, the suppliers of SAS have come up with a solution that replaces the inside plastic container of the cube with a paper one. It is made of FSC approved paper with a plastic coating, made from organic plant-based plastic instead of oil-based plastic.
New Nordic Dining Cube with cutlery – Image, SAS
In addition, the cutlery kit in the cube has also been changed. The new kits are adapted to each meal in order to reduce use of resources, meaning that each piece of cutlery is offered only if needed.
The new kits will start rolling out in December 2019, with it deployed through the short-haul product by May 2020
In quotes
Karl Sandlund, EVP & Chief Commercial Officer said
“Every day we develop our service offering and constantly evaluate everything we load onboard. We remove what is not needed and work to find innovative solutions for our materials and packaging,”
“The New Nordic by SAS food concept served in the cube is an excellent example of how we align our onboard services with our sustainability goals. It is one of many steps toward a more sustainable aviation – the most significant actions being the renewal of our fleet, increasing biofuel use and supporting the development of electric aircraft,”
Increasing sustainability
Airlines are looking to meet directives on plastic waste as well as improve their image. Whilst new aircraft can consume less fuel than existing models, work has to happen in the cabin to reduce the waste generated there.
As we’ve moved to buy-on-board models, there has been a waste cut – however, airlines see that as the next step of the game to reduce waste on-board.
With the Nordic Cubes and their plans, less plastic waste is always welcome in the sky.
Combined with other initiatives, it’s another step to reduce waste in the air and a step in making aviation a little more sustainable.
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