Jetstar passenger request raises questions about popular menu items: 'Do better'
On a Thursday afternoon Jetstar flight, just minutes after meals were eaten, an attendant pushing a trolley asked passengers to separate their rubbish. 'Jetstar aims to recycle as much as possible,' the employee said.
In Australia, it's a legal requirement passengers follow directions from flight crews, so everyone dutifully decoupled their beer bottles, Pringles packets, noodle boxes and forks. The attendant placed each item into separate plastic bags, but how many items were actually recycled remains a mystery.
Most of us have been sorting our rubbish to help the planet for decades, but airlines have only recently started in-flight recycling of waste generated by the menu items they sell. Sustainability experts have welcomed the change, but say airlines must be completely transparent about their recycling efforts.
Professor Lisa Given, an expert in innovation at RMIT, advocates for improvements in corporate social responsibility. She believes airlines have an added obligation to keep customers informed about waste processing because they assume responsibility for its processing by collecting it.
'Consumers need transparency… We want to see exactly what the airlines are doing on their side, and recycling is a big part of that,' she told Yahoo News.
Jeff Angel, founder of waste-reduction non-profit Total Environment Centre, agrees, noting environment-conscious travellers are concerned about what happens to their rubbish.
'There's a very strong responsibility on the airlines to come clean on exactly what they're doing with recycling, and do better,' he said. 'If companies want to avoid concerns about greenwashing, they need to be rigorously transparent.'
On international flights, it's often a biosecurity requirement that airlines hand over their waste to authorities, but domestically they have control over the rubbish they generate.
Jetstar's onboard recycling program for domestic flights began in June 2023, and since then, it's 'collected' an impressive 135 tonnes, of which 60 tonnes was in the 2024 fiscal year.
"While we're proud of their efforts, we know there's more work to do to enhance the program," its head of cabin crew Andrew Sinclair told Yahoo in a statement.
'We're continuing to work on improving our waste reduction and recycling initiatives, including sourcing in-flight products that use recyclable materials where possible, as well as making changes to meal packaging.'
Virgin Australia is yet to begin in-flight recycling outside of Western Australia, but is in the process of changing waste providers to expand the practice to the east coast. "We recognise that we have a way to go but are actively progressing our key initiatives," a Virgin spokesperson said.
Qantas's sustainability efforts are harder to understand. Yahoo sent several questions to the airline nine days ago, but it has yet to deliver a response.
According to the airline's 2024 sustainability report, it had in-flight recycling covering 85 per cent of its networks, and collected 165 tonnes of commingled recycling. Twenty-five per cent of its onshore recoverable waste was collected for recycling or reuse.
Given would like to see airlines engage more about how they're becoming more sustainable, but she notes they need to have facts and figures to share.
'We're a captive audience when we're on a plane, there's an opportunity during the messages about putting on our seatbelts for takeoff and landing. There are a lot of communication mechanisms for airlines to tell their stories, but the critical thing is the story needs to be there in the first place,' she said.
'If their recycling story is a good one, I'm sure that they would want to put that in front of their consumer base," she added.
Sustainability is not just about recycling. Another important factor is how items like packaging, in-flight menus, and even garbage bags are produced in the first place.
In particular, many customers want to be assured the wood and paper used on board are not sourced from forests where endangered species live. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification is an assurance that the trees are harvested responsibly.
Virgin's menus are FSC-certified and have an anti-bacterial covering that makes them more resilient, reducing wastage by up to 30 per cent. Its boarding passes, bag tags, and sick bags are also certified.
Because personal information is printed on boarding passes, Virgin leaves it up to customers to recycle them independently. Bag tags can also go in the yellow bin, but only if the eyelet and string are removed. Sick bags are more of a problem because they're coated in plastic to prevent them from leaking.
Other items used on Virgin flights, including tray liners, cart seals, napkins and water bottles, are made from 100 per cent recycled materials.
We were unable to determine whether Qantas or Jetstar use ethically sourced paper. However, one notable Qantas achievement is that it began progressively switching from plastic cutlery to FSC-approved wooden alternatives in 2001.
When it comes to plastic bags, all of those used in toilets are made from 100 per cent recycled plastic. The airline claims it hasn't been able to find a recycled product strong enough for its catering bags, but this is currently under review. Jetstar and Qantas did not provide any information on this subject to Yahoo.
In France, short-haul flights have been banned to push travellers onto trains, which are more environmentally friendly. Fast trains are already the preferred option for domestic travel in Japan and China, and there are promises of similar services being developed in Australia, which if delivered could put pressure on airlines to lift their game.
All three airlines have bold ambitions to have zero landfill, excluding quarantine waste, with Qantas and Jetstar committing to 2030 and Virgin 2032. While this is commendable, many consumers are sceptical when companies make announcements that won't be achieved until well into the future.
For instance, Toohey's announced it would phase out single-use plastic by the end of 2025, but that proved 'expensive' and the beer company said it needed more time. Coca-Cola also walked backwards on its plastic reduction commitments.
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