Airlines Toss Enough Cans Each Year to Build Fleet of Airliners, NRDC Says
by Kyeann Sayer, Nomad on 12.18.06
As if there weren't enough reasons to feel guilty about flying, a newly released NRDC study highlights airline industry and air port wastefulness. Some nuggets:
Airlines in the U.S. throw away enough aluminum cans every year to build 58 new 747s.
The airline industry threw out 9,000 tons of plastic in 2004, and enough newspapers and magazines to bury a football field more than 230 feet deep.
Nationwide, U.S. airports generated 425,000 tons of waste in 2004 -- a figure expected to increase nearly 45 percent by 2015.
Each passenger today leaves behind 1.3 pounds of trash. Seventy five percent of this waste is recyclable or compostable.
Not all of the news is gloomy, however. Airports like Seattle Sea-Tac and Oakland have shown that recycling and composting lead to major savings. Read the summary or download the full report. NRDC via GreenBiz
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Air New Zealand Prepares for Biofuel Test Flight
- Hard-Wearing Undies: Lingerie From Recycled Cans
- Put Up Your Duke's: It's Björk vs. a Slew of Burly Icelandic Aluminum Exporters
- Young Children Building Antibodies to Cockroach and Mouse Proteins Face Environmental Health Risks
Have flight attendants been lying to me or have they been lied to? I don't fly that much, but on my last 30+ flights over the last decade, I've always asked if the cans would be recycled, and they've ALWAYS said yes, that the airports separate the trash later.
Bryan, I don't know what the deal is there. You're so good -- I used to ask, but somehow over time resigned myself to those bags and bags of plastic cups and cans going to waste. For the longest time, I just took my own water bottle on board to avoid the need to use 3+ cups, but with the liquid restrictions, you now have to buy a bottle after the security check. Annoyingly, many flight attendants have refused to refill an initial plastic cup, providing new ones with every drink.
on my last flight i took a reusable bottle (empty) and refilled it after the checkpoint to avoid buying bottled water.