LATAM Airlines Group Launches New Sustainability Campaign
"Recycle Your Journey" aims to curtail onboard waste
July 17, 2019
Recycle your Journey is a global initiative by LATAM to sustainably manage onboard waste. The program will first roll out for domestic flights in Chile, before being rolled out by other LATAM subsidiaries. To that end, between August and December of this year, the company will recycle more than 20 tons of waste from domestic flights in Chile alone.
The Recycle your Journey program is part of the “Together, More Sustainable” sustainability strategy of LATAM, and allows the airline to be considered one of the three most sustainable airline groups in the world
In the program that started today yesterday (July 17, 2019), Mercado LATAM packaging on all domestic flights in Chile are now set up for recycling with the segregation of aluminum, glass and plastic. As part of the airline group’s wider sustainability strategy this initiative will be gradually introduced throughout LATAM’s operation in Latin America.
“As one of the three most sustainable airline groups in the world, we are committed to bringing about change and leading by example,” said Ignacio Cueto, President of LATAM Airlines Group.
Cueto added that one of the most important attributes of Recycle your Journey is collaboration: and that means the willingness our passengers to help with the effort.
This is the first stage of the company’s on-board recycling program with the goal of recycling 100% of Mercado LATAM packaging in the future. By the end of 2020, the company expects to recycle more than 55 tons of on-board waste per year.
Recycle your Journey will be carried out in several stages, starting with the Mercado LATAM service that offers onboard food and beverages for a price. Following the service, the cabin crew collect the waste from passengers, separating the elements. On arrival, LATAM’s partner LSG Sky Chefs receive the segregated waste to transport it to local recycling centers.
The initiative in beta for more than a year with four trial programs that helped define and fine-tune all the processes. The focused recycling effort is part of LATAM’s “Together, More Sustainable” sustainability strategy that has been in development for more than a decade.