Jet2 plc has launched its Sustainability Strategy with the vision to become “one of the leading brands in sustainable air travel and package holidays”.
Having signed both the UK aviation Net Zero 2050 pledge in 2020 and European aviation industry equivalent earlier this year, the company will be implementing its own more ambitious targets.
In addition to carbon emissions, Jet2.com’s Inflight Retail team is reducing single use plastics, replacing with sustainable alternatives such as wooden cutlery and cardboard meal boxes.
It aims to achieve an 80% reduction in single use plastics on aircraft by 2023 (equivalent to removing 11 million items on an annual basis) on top of nine million items already removed per year.
Where non-plastic alternatives are unavailable at present, Jet2.com is using products made from a higher proportion of recycled plastics such as rPET water bottles.
As part of the airline’s commitment to the circular economy, it began an in-flight recycling programme in November 2019. In-flight recycling brings materials which previously would have gone to landfill, such as rPET plastic products, back into the material supply chain, closing the loop by ensuring these materials are able to be used again. Jet2.com estimates this programme will help to recycle up to 50% of on-board waste – recycling up to 1.2 million knives, forks and spoons, 2.9 million wooden stirrers and 4.7 million plastic products, based on usage in the year ended 31 March 2020.
