Air France committed to eliminating 210 million single-use plastic items by the end of 2019

It’s the end of the road for plastic cutlery, cups, stirrers etc. For this year’s World Environment Day, passengers on flight AF378 from Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Detroit were offered products made of bio-based materials instead of single-use plastic items usually distributed on board, in keeping with airline rules and health regulations.           

Air France today announced its decision to eliminate 1,300 tons of single-use plastic.

In this way, Air France will eliminate 210 million single-use plastic items by the end of 2019. They will be replaced by sustainable alternatives on all flights.

This represents:

  • 100 million plastic cups replaced with paper cups;
  • 85 million plastic cutlery items replaced with products made from bio-based materials and packaging;
  • 25 million plastic stirring sticks replaced with wooden stirrers;
  • Since November 2018, Air France has replaced the plate and cutlery set used for the second meal on long-haul flights with a “BON APPETIT” bag.

By the end of the year, these innovations will result in the elimination of 1,300 tons of plastic.

In addition, since 2015, Air France no longer supplies plastic drinking straws on board, representing a reduction of 1.3 million plastic items.


A showcase for the future of air travel

Flight AF378 on June 5 from Paris to Detroit is operated by Boeing 787-9, the latest addition to the Air France fleet. A new-generation aircraft, the Dreamliner offers a large number of operational advantages, including 20% lower fuel consumption than older aircraft and a significantly reduced noise footprint.

Pilots will optimize the flight path according to the weather conditions and the weight of the aircraft. These eco-piloting techniques will make it possible to achieve a controlled fuel consumption of around 2.7 litres per passenger per 100 km.


Air France and the environment: one ambition, one commitment and concrete results

Air France is committed to reducing its environmental footprint in order to offer its customers a responsible travel experience and acts on a daily basis to limit the impact of its operations.

Air France has set itself three major objectives to meet this challenge:

  1. Reduce and offset its CO2 emissions;
  2. Reduce, recycle and reprocess its waste;
  3. Reduce the noise footprint of its operations.

The actions carried out by the Air France group since 2011 have already made it possible to reduce its CO2 emissions per passenger by 20% and to reach the 2020 target by 2018.

See also