subject: Airlines Doing a Poor Job Recycling by:Steve Robinson [print this page] While almost everyone feels good about the plentiful supply of cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages, environmentally conscious travelers cannot feel good about the fact that U.S. airlines throw away enough aluminum cans every year to build 58 new Boeing 747s. Passengers, on average, leave behind 1.3 pounds of trash when they exit planes; three quarters of which could have been recycled, but only 20 percent is actually recycled.
This information was made available in a new report by a nonprofit environment group named "Green America" which reveals that US airlines could do a much better job recycling the tremendous amount of waste passengers leave on flights.
Delta and Virgin America were given the highest grades (B-) for airline recycling programs. United Airlines and US Airways were given "F" grades.
Green America observed that Delta initiated an in flight recycling program in '07 which salvages aluminum cans, plastic bottles, plastic trays, beverage cups, newspapers and magazines on flights landing in 20 major cities.
Delta acknowledges that it continues to identify opportunities for it to improve its recycling efforts.
The main reason Delta did not receive an "A" for its recycling efforts is because it does not recycle on international flights. The U.S. department of Agriculture regulates waste created on international flights, which makes recycling more difficult, but does not have to prevent it, according to Green America.
Green America is urging concerned passengers to ask flight attendants whether any items are recycled, and when necessary remove their own cans, plastic bottles and newspapers from planes and recycle them at airports and write airlines urging them to do more.
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About the author
Steve Robinson is a travel profession who has been in the business over 10 years specializing in Air Travel and Vacation packages. WWW.cheapfares.com is the site of choice for both.
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