LATAM Airlines managed to reduce the use of single-use plastics on board its aircraft by 88% in the first half of the year, a figure that gives the airline renewed encouragement to maintain its goal of completely eliminating these plastics on its flights by the end of the year. The commitment is to eliminate single-use plastics by 2023 and be zero waste to landfill by 2027. Two years ago, they decided to migrate from a linear model to a circular model, where waste becomes a resource with a new life. By June 2023, LATAM Airlines had managed to reduce the use of these plastics by 88% through the implementation of circular economy projects, which meant a total reduction of 1,600 tonnes of plastic, equivalent to 266 million plastic bags. One of the initiatives implemented by the group was the replacement of single-use plastics with organic materials such as paper in the case of the new cups, bamboo for cutlery, sugar cane for container lids and reusable materials such as trays in economy class and cloth bags in business class. In addition, LATAM Airlines has been, in accordance with the “Recycle your trip” programme, discriminating certain waste generated in the on-board service for subsequent recycling, which happens on the airline’s domestic flights in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and its implementation in Brazil is being evaluated in the near future. LATAM Airlines also decided to maintain the “Second Flight” programme, which gives a second life to the airline’s uniforms and various textile elements in disuse, using South American artisans and entrepreneurs who transform these items into new products, such as passport holders, luggage tags, wallets and key chains, among others.
