Airlines say food waste is excessive, want to cut use of plastic; Air NZ and EVA Air first carriers to get new sustainable rating

The airline industry summit is addressing ways for the sector to get cleaner by attending to fuel supply and carbon emissions, and reducing waste. Photo / Supplied

The technology has changed, the security landscape has changed and passenger tastes have changed, but the rules often haven’t.

That was a message from International Air Transport Association (Iata) director general Willie Walsh at a Hong Kong briefing today.

Industry leaders from across the world are meeting for the World Sustainability Symposium.

This morning in Hong Kong, aviation leaders blasted slow progress on renewable fuel sources.

The general consensus seemed to be that everyone in the sector should do more to promote uptake of sustainable aviation fuel.

But Walsh today was also asked about food waste and use of plastics.

He said in some jurisdictions, a huge amount of food that was uneaten by passengers had to be destroyed.

“We can’t even give it away. In many cases it has to be incinerated.”

Walsh said some food safety rules might be decades old.

He indicated it could be a slow process trying to get governments to change rules.

“We’ve been trying to ... peel back some of the regulations,” he said.

“We’re making some progress there.”

Walsh said many people might ask if so many items supplied to passengers had to be individually wrapped.

“We’re trying to move away from the use of plastics.”

He said sometimes airport security rules changed almost arbitrarily from place to place.

“We know that technology has overtaken the requirement to take all your liquids out of your bag,” he added.

Dr Marie Owens Thomsen, Laura Luther and Willie Walsh. Photo / John Weekes

Meanwhile, Air New Zealand was one of two inaugural recipients of Iata’s new sustainable procurement certificate.

Iata this week launched the Integrated Sustainability Programme (ISP).

The ISP certification offered airlines what Iata called a comprehensive sustainability management and assessment framework.

It included training in environmental management, sustainable procurement, social responsibility and sustainability performance.

Laura Luther, Air New Zealand sustainability lead, received the certification on the airline’s behalf today.

Kiri Hannifin, Air New Zealand chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer, said sustainable procurement meant building on the collective strength of its supplier network.

“By backing Iata’s new ISP, we want to play our part to help lift standards across aviation, and demonstrate that doing what’s right is about doing good business,” Hannifin said.

The certification was issued the same day Nikhil Ravishankar started as Air New Zealand’s new chief executive.

The other recipient of the new certification was EVA Air from Taiwan.

Jason Liu, EVA Air chief sustainability officer, said the certification reflected a commitment to integrating sustainability into procurement and collaborating with partners to build a more resilient supply chain.

John Weekes is a business journalist covering aviation. He has previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.

The Herald travelled to Hong Kong courtesy of IATA and Cathay Pacific.

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