Page 22 - Plastcs News January 2019

FeAtures

AAI jumps on the Plastics Free bandwagon – bans single-use plastic

AAI has decided to make its airports plastic free by banning the use of single-use plastic items on the
premises across the country

he world's first plastic-free flight took to the skies just On the basis of third-party assessment carried out by QCI;
Tafter Christmas, operated by a Portuguese airline that 16 airports — Indore, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar,
says it can "no longer ignore" the impact the single-use Tirupati, Trichy, Vijayawada, Dehradun, Chandigarh,
material has on the environment. Vadodara, Madurai, Raipur, Vizag, Pune, Kolkata and
Varanasi — have been declared as single-use plastic free.
On January 4, the AAI announced a ban on single-use plastic
items like straws, plastic plates etc. across airports. The Indira Gandhi International Airport has also started the
Airports Authority of India (AAI), which operates over 90 process of not using plastic for grocery bags, food packaging,
airports, has declared 16 airports free from single-use bottles, straws, containers, cups and cutlery. The Bengaluru
plastic. It has also issued direction to the airport directors International Airport has also been moving in that direction.
to ban plastic and asked them to implement the order as Hifly aims to be first
early as possible. The AAI has engaged Quality Council of
India (QCI) to assess/check the implementation of the ban Portuguese airline HiFly recently took its first flight
of single-use plastic items at 34 airports — handling one completely free of single-use plastic items like straws and
million passengers per annum — which will be completed cutlery, with the goal of eliminating all disposable plastics
by January 31. in 2019.
The flight took passengers from the carrier's headquarters
in Lisbon to Brazil on an Airbus A340 on Boxing Day and is
the first of three more test flights to follow, all carrying a
total of 700 travellers. According to reports that plastic
knives, forks, and spoons were replaced by items made from
biodegradable bamboo on the flights from Lisbon to Natale,
Brazil. Containers were made from compostable materials,
while non-plastic cups and cocktail stirrers were used. The
airline plans to do two more test flights before implementing
the plastic ban system-wide.
“We can no longer ignore the impact plastic contamination
has on ecosystems, as well as on human health,” Hi
Fly president Paulo Mirpuri said.“We know, too, from
Single-use plastics, often also referred to as disposable the feedback we have received from client airlines and
plastics, are commonly used in packaging and include items passengers, that it’s the right thing for the airline to be
intended to be used only once before they are thrown away doing.” Alaska Airlines has eliminated the use of plastic
or recycled. straws and others, like Delta Air Lines and Air New Zealand,
“Rampant modernisation and commercialisation are leading have reduced plastic use.
to exerting our planet and making it devoid of its natural Will others follow?
resources. Being an environmentally conscious public sector
enterprise, the AAI has decided to make its airports plastic It remains to be seen as no airline, however, has completely
free by banning the use of single-use plastic items on the eliminated single-use plastics from cabin service. For
premises across the country,” said an AAI spokesperson. customers on board, this will mean initiatives such as a
“Various steps, including banning of single-use plastic items switch to wooden cutlery and paper. Is it practically possible
like straws, plastic cutleries, plastic plates, have been to have the modern day packaging convenience one looks
undertaken to eliminate the single-use plastic items at for? Like it or not, Plastics still remains one of the best
passenger terminals and city side,” he added. utility material.

Plastics News Januar y 2019 22